


Doomed to Love

by Comicsohwhyohwhy



Category: Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616
Genre: Everyone has a crush on sorcerer Tony, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Getting Together, Interdimensional shenanigans, M/M, Mentions of alcoholism, Pining, Time Shenanigans, Two Dooms, non-consensual magic use
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-28
Updated: 2017-08-01
Packaged: 2018-05-23 15:29:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6121003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Comicsohwhyohwhy/pseuds/Comicsohwhyohwhy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony really doesn't trust Doom. Turns out, Sorcerer Tony <i>really</i> does. And so, very slowly, Tony finds out that everyone might deserve a second chance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A New Perspective

**Author's Note:**

> So, I don't know what's happening, but the new Iron Man comic by Bendis apparently really made me ship this. Like, seriously ship it, and not just laugh about Doom sheathing Excalibur in Tony.  
> This fic will include lots of pining and angst and it'll take ages for those two idiots to actually get together. Frankly, I don't yet know how I am going to achieve it. So enjoy!
> 
> Thanks so much for giving this a read, [GerdavR](http://archiveofourown.org/users/GerdavR) and [laireshi](http://archiveofourown.org/users/laireshi)! You are both totally to blame for my urge to write those two. Laire also let me use that awesome title she made up :D

Tony was bent low over a work bench, a deep crease between his eyebrows. He had been working on the newest iteration of his power dampeners for hours and still, they didn’t quite function to his satisfaction.

When his screwdriver slipped on the overdrive coil for the third time, Tony sighed and leant back in his chair, closing his eyes. Between his own problems and the new Avengers team that required more babysitting than usual, he hadn’t gotten as much sleep as he probably should have, he thought blearily. No wonder his work wasn’t up to scratch.

A high humming sound interrupted his musings. Tony opened his eyes to see a faint glow emanating from the right corner of his workshop. Frowning, he got up and walked towards the source of light.

When Tony saw what was making the sound and lighting up his workshop in all the colours of the rainbow, he rolled his eyes.

The wand of Watoomb. Of course. Doom’s ‘present’, the magical artefact he had given Tony when they had first met after Doom started claiming he had reformed. What could possibly go wrong with the present from a known supervillain?

Tony carefully inched closer. “Friday? Analyse this for me, please.”

Friday’s avatar flickered to life next to him. “Ohh, it’s pretty!”

“Really? That’s all you have to say about this?” Tony smiled. He had grown quite fond of his AI.

“Well, you’re not gonna like this, Tony, but the energies are mystical.”

“I’d never have guessed,” Tony commented dryly. He was almost close enough to touch the wand now. Which he of course wasn’t going to do, because he wasn’t an idiot. “Anything else?”

“There’s an energy fluc-”

Tony felt all air pressed from his lungs as the whole world around him seemed to erupt into vivid colours. He tried to activate his armour, but he was already away from his lab, hurled back and forth, everything around him spinning out of focus as he raced down what looked like a tunnel made of rainbows. It seemed to go on forever, but it was probably just a few seconds, and Tony felt he was going to be sick as he saw the ground race towards him. He braced his arms at the last moment.

The impact was rough. Tony tumbled to the ground, trying to protect his head. He rolled down what seemed to be a grassy slope and ended up on his back, gasping, staring at an annoyingly blue sky with a cheerful sun in it. Well, this day was just getting better and better.

“Who are you?”

Tony squinted up at a silhouette outlined against the bright sky. He couldn’t make out much, but the voice seemed kind of familiar. At least the fact that whoever was behind that voice hadn’t tried to kill him yet was somewhat reassuring.

“Oh.” The voice sounded surprised as Tony slowly sat up, shielding his eyes. A man wearing ridiculous long robes that looked like Strange’s was standing in front of him, but he had long, flowing hair, unlike Stephen, and also, the voice was wrong. A huge glowing orb seemed to hang in front of the man’s… crotch. Really. What had he gotten himself into this time.

Finally upright, Tony squinted some more and managed to make out the man’s face. Strong cheekbones, a stylish goatee and brilliantly blue eyes. The man’s lips curled into a smile as Tony took in a sharp breath.

Even though the man was clearly older, his hair white at the temples, there was no doubt that it was another him. But another him who looked like he had attended a costume party as a very overdressed sorcerer, something Tony would of course never do. Something was seriously off here.

“Well, I’ve met other versions of me before, but I have realized they tend not to have chosen the magical arts as their area of expertise, hence you come as a bit of a surprise.” The man… the other Tony sounded amused.

Tony held up his hands in protest. “Do I look like a sorcerer to you?”

The other him frowned, considering. “I called upon the wand of Watoomb to get hold of a powerful sorcerer. I’ve never seen a dimension where its owner isn’t Sorcerer Supreme or at least something similar.”

Tony shook his head. “Well, sorry to disappoint, but you’re definitely not looking for me. I’d never dress as ridiculously as you or pretty much any magician I know. I got this wand-thingy from –”

There was a flash of purple lightning to Tony’s left as Doom appeared beside him, dressed impeccably and looking damningly handsome, as usual of late. He looked alarmed. Tony groaned. Of course.

Before he could intervene, Doom raised his hand. A golden sphere appeared around the other Tony, who looked momentarily taken aback. Doom’s jaw was clenched – apparently he thought this other Tony was an enemy.

“Doom, I think he’s not –”

Before Tony got any further – it really seemed to be the kind of day where he got interrupted all the time – the him in the sphere raised a hand, nonchalantly waved it and smiled candidly as the sphere burst into a thousand tiny golden fragments.

“Hello, Victor. You should know that attacking a Sorcerer Supreme is never a wise idea. Unless, of course, you happen to be the Sorcerer Supreme of your dimension?”

It was almost satisfactory to see the way Doom was gaping at the other him, clearly out of his depth. Then he drew his eyebrows together and looked positively murderous. His hands were still raised, ready to strike any second. “Who are you and how do you dare address me by my first name?”

Tony sighed. “Doom, calm down. That guy is obviously this dimension’s Sorcerer Supreme, much as I hate to admit a Tony Stark could be a magician. If he wanted us dead, we’d probably _be_ dead by now.”

Doom’s eyebrows were raised as he shot Tony a look. “That’s your reason for assuming that man isn’t evil, and not the fact that he’s, as you just said, another Tony Stark?”

Tony laughed, and even to his own ears it sounded a little bitter. “Nope, being Tony Stark certainly isn’t proof of not being a complete jerk. But also, how are you even here? Just happened to be talking a nice sunny Sunday walk through the dimensions?”

Doom wrinkled his ridiculously well-shaped nose. “Of course not. I was alerted to the wand becoming active and tracked it.”

Tony grit his teeth. “What you mean to say is, _I have been stalking you with the help of the ‘present’ I gave you, like the supervillain I still clearly am_.”

Both Doom and Tony turned around as the other Tony clucked. He was staring at them with some fascination. “Well, well, I see quite a lot of things are different where you come from… Allow me to formally introduce myself: Anthony Stark, Sorcerer Supreme of this quaint dimension, as you have rightly guessed. If you’ll excuse me for a moment…”

He snapped his fingers and a little silvery bot appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. Tony stared. This… looked more like technology than magic, or some weird kind of fusion he would never have dreamed of and didn’t really want to have anything to do with.

Doom, however, had clearly dreamed of it. He moved closer, looking interested. “A nanobot with magical circuits?”

Anthony quickly looked up at him and nodded, then he talked into the bot. “There’s something I want to show you. Yes, you’ll want so see it, drop by, you know the coordinates.”

Tony shot Doom a look, who seemed equally as confused as he was. He cleared his throat. “So, may I ask what we are all doing here? I am feeling a bit in over my head with all that magic mumbo-jumbo.”

Anthony inclined his head. “Of course. I called upon the owner of the wand in your dimension because something seems to be wrong with the magic pathways between the planes of existence of late. The usual ways of communication don’t work. I don’t know what the problem is, but magic… seems to malfunction. I’ve been trying to get a hold of sorcerers from other dimensions in various ways, to try and make sense of what is happening together.”

Tony heard Doom’s sharp intake of breath. “Magic seems to malfunction?”

Anthony nodded, a sombre look in his eyes. “Yes. Has it not reached your dimension yet?”

Doom shook his head. “No.”

Tony pensively put a hand to his chin. “Actually, Strange said something of the sort…”

Anthony looked up sharply. “Stephen Strange?”

“Yes, him, our Sorcerer Supreme, do you know Strange in your world?”

Anthony laughed bitterly. His voice sounded odd when he answered. “You could say that. Figures that he’d be Sorcerer Supreme where you come from…”

There was an eruption of light in the middle of their circle. Tony shielded his eyes as Doom cast some sort of barrier between the two of them and whoever appeared. Then he made a sound of surprise as he made out who was standing there.

It was, clearly, another Doom, albeit one wearing a full-body armour. This Doom’s armour was golden – even more obnoxious than his Doom’s, Tony though, but who was he to talk.

Before Tony had time to decide whether this Doom was a danger to them all, Anthony had walked up to him and intertwined their hands. The other Doom raised his free hand to his face to take off the mask – a face almost as handsome as his Doom’s appeared (Tony thought that he should probably stop thinking of him as ‘his Doom’).

And then Anthony leant in and kissed that other Doom tenderly. Other-Doom’s lashes fluttered shut and he raised a hand to gently cup Anthony’s cheek. Then he carded it through Anthony’s long hair. A pleased little sound escaped the other Tony’s mouth.

Doom dropped his barrier. Tony felt as if someone had plunged him into ice water. His brain didn’t really want to compute what he was seeing. Another him… smooching another Doom. And he had thought that that evil alternate version of himself locked in endless battle with Reed and murdering people left and right was as weird as it could get.

He was aware that he was gaping. The kiss seemed to go on forever. With a massive effort, Tony drew his eyes away from the sight in front of him to look at hi- at Doom.

There was a strange expression on Doom’s face, one Tony had never seen there before. It looked almost like longing. Tony frowned and filed that look away, for consideration later.

Finally, the two men in front of them parted and turned towards them, both looking smug. When other-Doom finally took in who the members of their audience were, he wrinkled his forehead.

He pointed a finger at Tony’s Doom. “Are you a good or an evil version of me?” This Doom’s voice was different from the one Tony knew. It was less aloof, less arrogant, somehow more… normal.

His Doom looked indignant while Tony laughed. It sounded slightly hysterical to his own ears.

“Well, I might ask you the same thing. Are you on his side?” Doom pointed at Anthony.

Anthony smiled at Other-Doom, and it was a terribly soft, fond smile. “Victor wasn’t always on my side. But he changed, and now… Now we protect this world, always together.”

Tony shuddered. “Excuse me while I go throw up.”

Victor laughed, and Tony was seriously creeped out, because he had never heard Doom laugh. Scratch that, he had heard villain-Doom behind the mask laugh some maniacal laughs, the ones that are usually accompanied by sentences like “ohooo, I’m taking over the world and there’s nothing you can do about it”. But this wasn’t that kind of laugh – it was a happy laugh, the laugh of a man who felt comfortable with who he was. And who he was with.

“Anthony, I mean, Anthony from the other dimension, you are just like a younger version of my Anthony. It’s quite endearing.”

All Tony managed in response to that was a mute shake of his head. His Doom sniffed disdainfully.

After a moment of awkward silence, Anthony clapped his hands once. “… Well, gentlemen, I believe we are done here for the moment. I gather that you are in fact not the sorcerers I was hoping to get in touch with, so we might as well get you back to your own dimension.”

Tony’s Doom clacked his tongue. “Not so fast. You said magic was malfunctioning. I need all the details.”

Anthony narrowed his eyes, and Tony wondered whether he was as much of an open book as that other version of him. As much as he evidently liked snogging ‘Victor’, he clearly didn’t trust Doom. Well, Tony couldn’t blame him, as he didn’t trust Doom either.

“From your conversation with my other self, I gather your loyalties are… questionable?”

Doom bristled with barely restrained anger at that remark. “Doom has turned over a new leaf. How dare you question his loyalties.”

Victor put a hand on Anthony’s shoulder, signaling him to step down. “I’ll have a word with my other self, if you don’t mind.”

Anthony squeezed the hand on his shoulder quickly and smiled, then Victor walked over to Doom. There was a flicker of energy in the air, and then Tony saw the two Dooms talk, but couldn’t make out anything anymore. Damn magic.

“Can I talk to you for a second, Tony?” Anthony’s eyes looked all hopeful, making him look a lot younger than he probably was, and Tony wondered whether he had the same annoying puppy look when he wanted something. He sighed.

“Sure. But don’t tell me what the two of you are up to in the bedroom. Seriously, don’t. I’ll need a brain bleach after this anyway.”

Anthony smiled a knowing smile, and it should have been terribly condescending, but somehow, it wasn’t. “You know, I didn’t exactly trust him at first. And we come from very different places, something that can become a problem even now. But still… I am happy with him, happier than I ever thought I could be, and he is happy with me. Maybe you should give your Victor a chance to really reform.”

Tony was horrified. “Are you suggesting I _hook up_ with Doom?!”

Anthony shook his head. “Don’t be silly. All I am suggesting is giving him a chance to prove that he changed. Victor always said – he always said that someone, that me believing in him was what made all the difference. That it gave him the strength to become someone better.”

Tony shuddered a little. “Point taken. Can we now please stop talking about you hooking up with a supervillain? I knew I made bad life choices, but I think yours might top mine, you know.”

Anthony grinned. “Well, you should reconsider some of yours, because believe me, sex with magic involved is great, and I gather there aren’t that many ways for you to experience it.”

Tony gasped in outrage. “You didn’t just –“

Before he could finish, a deep voice cut in, the one so similar and yet so different to Doom’s. “Two Anthony Starks. Of course one couldn’t leave them alone without all this tension erupting.”

Doom and Victor stepped towards them. Victor looked cheerful (why did he always look cheerful, it was disturbing), the expression on Doom’s face was thoughtful and somewhat unreadable.

Anthony wrinkled his nose. “Well, you’re one to talk.” Victor gave him a peck on the cheek, and Anthony chuckled. He actually _chuckled_. Tony thought he might yet be sick – the interdimensional travel he had managed to deal with, but this was too much. No one deserved this.

“Are you ready to go back, Stark?”

Doom seemed to consider his face closely. Tony tried to make as neutral an expression as possible. “Yes, of course. Are you? Did you get the information you wanted?”

“We have made… arrangements, yes.”

They stood there in silence while Anthony started casting what looked like an intricate net of coordinates into the air. Behind him, Victor was doing something similar. “We’ll send you both back to where you came from, so, your earth, but not the same place, yes?”

Tony nodded. They fell silent again.

Then he heard Doom take a deep breath. “Do you want me to stop tracking you?”

He turned to look at Doom disbelievingly. “What?”

Doom rolled his eyes. “I said, do you want me to stop tracking you?”

Tony almost laughed out loud. “Yes, _of course_ I do, you maniac! You can’t simply track me without my consent! It’s creepy!”

Doom closed his eyes for a moment, turning his perfect profile towards Tony instead of looking at him. “Do you promise me you’ll contact me when you’re in trouble?”

Tony snorted. “Doom, I’ve been handling my own trouble for my whole life. Granted, not always well, but I don’t need you to suddenly start babysitting me.”

“The situation is different now. Because of me, you are involved in matters of magic. Take today. Those situations aren’t ones you can necessarily handle well by yourself.” Doom looked at him intensely now, his eyes boring into Tony’s.

Tony was at a loss for words. It was actually… kind of sweet that Doom should worry like that. Not that he would actually contact him, of course. He had Stephen for that, if need be. But he didn’t need to tell Doom that.

He swallowed once. “Okay, I will contact you. Happy now?”

A look of relief passed over Doom’s face. He nodded shortly and faced Anthony and Victor again, who were evidently done with their preparations.

“Tony, are you ready?” Anthony asked. “And I take it you’ll travel by your own power, Victor?”

Doom and Tony nodded simultaneously, and then the world spun around Tony for the second time that day, bright colours almost blinding him. When he landed ruggedly on the floor of his lab, he breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Oh my God, Tony, what happened?”

Friday sounded panicked. Tony laughed weakly.

“You won’t believe it, Friday…”


	2. Doom Is All You Need

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When unknown forces attack, Tony finds himself in sudden need of Doom. Things don't go exactly as planned.

The next day, Tony was at the new headquarters of the Avengers in the early hours of the morning. He’d had a rather restless night, unable to get yesterday’s events out of his head. Anthony’s words about what someone believing in him had meant to his Victor had haunted him until Tony decided to forego sleeping altogether in favour of work.

He also wanted to drop off the wand of Watoomb at the headquarters, hoping to chat with Thor about it – albeit not a sorcerer in the strict sense of the word, she was certainly the closest to a magic user that they had on the new team.

When he entered the hangar, he was surprised to see Sam already sitting at a table, checking out something on a tablet.

“You’re up early,” Sam commented as Tony took a seat opposite him.

Tony raised his eyebrows. “I could say the same for you. Have you already made coffee?”

Sam shook his head, the lines of his shoulders somewhat taut, so Tony got up and started heating water. Starting work without a cup simply wouldn’t do. “What’s up?”

Sam sighed. “Strange got in touch, he’s apparently off _somewhere_ doing _something_ , don’t even ask me, I didn’t really get what he was on about. It involved something called the shuma-gorath. I googled it, I still have no idea what it is.”

Tony gave Sam a wry smile. “You googled it?”

Sam blushed a little. “The world would be a better place if sorcerers made proper databases online, Tony. Anyways, while Strange is dealing with that, he apparently fears there might be some sort of disturbance in the magical plane in New York. I quote, ‘forces of darkness’ could try to attack. Something about unseen things living in the cracks between the dimensions.”

Tony rubbed his eyes. “Forces of darkness, aha. Does Strange even realise we have exactly no proper magic wielder on our team now? Why hasn’t he tried to contact, oh, I dunno, Wanda or Magik?”

Sam grimaced. “I asked the same thing. He has apparently tried, but they are dealing with their own problems. So he asked me, or us, more precisely, to keep an eye on it and not get eaten by interdimensional slugs, should something happen.”

Tony carded his hands through his hair and sighed. “You know, I miss the good old days when the Avengers were actually a huge team and Steve and me could just call up some of you guys when we didn’t want to go out. Interdimensional slugs sounds like just the sort of thing we’d avoid in favour of watching TV on the couch.”

Tony only became aware of the fact that mentioning Steve had been less than tactful when Sam stared into space bleakly.

“Yeah. I get why you would miss that.”

Handing a cup of coffee to Sam, Tony quickly squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry.”

Sam turned to him with a surprised look on his face. “What for?”

Tony swallowed. “I didn’t mean to insinuate that the team was better when Steve− before you became Captain America.”

Sam stared at him blankly for a few moments more, then he laughed. “Tony. I’ve been an Avenger for a long while, I know you respect me as a teammate. I only thought of the fact that Steve isn’t talking to me right now. Or to you, for that matter.” The look in Sam’s eyes was pitiful.

Tony cleared his throat. Better not to go down that line of thought. “Yeah. So, slugs.”

Sam held his eyes for a moment longer, apparently considering whether he should drop the topic or not. Thankfully, he seemed to decide to leave it, exhaled on a little sigh and looked back down at his tablet. “Well, I think the slugs were only one possibility. Or maybe he was joking. Do you really think there’s _slugs_ living between the dimensions?” Sam shuddered. “Anyways, I didn’t want to wake you yet. Or stop the kids from going to school. Maybe nothing is gonna happen.”

Tony raised one eyebrow and sat down, cradling his own mug of coffee. “Famous last words. At any rate, I’ll tell Friday to watch for any irregularities.”

He pressed a button on his watch and Friday’s avatar appeared. She looked somewhat caught out, something that should be impossible for an AI. That’s what he got for imbuing his AIs with properly human traits, Tony thought.

“Friday? What’s up?”

“Nothing. I was just checking up some info about what happened to you yesterday.” Friday snickered and waggled her eyebrows.

Tony shot a quick look at Sam − he’d rather not discuss his alternate self’s romantic adventures in front of him. He cleared his throat. “Well, yes. But could you monitor New York now, closely, for any sort of disturbance?”

Friday rolled her eyes. “I am always monitoring everything closely, Tony. That’s how you built me. Because you are paranoid.”

Tony couldn’t quite hide the grin stealing over his face. “Then do your creator’s work. And stop your ‘interdimensional research’, please.”

Friday looked guilty, but only a tiny little bit, before her avatar vanished into thin air.

For a while after that, nothing happened. Sam and Tony sat there in companionable silence, each working on their own stuff. It was still too early for any of the others to turn up – the kids were at school, Thor and Vision only tended to drop by in the afternoon. Tony almost started thinking that Strange might have exaggerated.

And then all hell broke loose.

The defences of the hangar went off at the exact moment that Friday’s avatar popped up next to Tony. Her voice was hard to make out over the din of the sirens. “Tony, something’s breaching –”

Before she could finish, Tony had activated the armour from his wrist. It enclosed him in one smooth movement while Sam was already rising in the air.

Tony saw Sam’s call for the Avengers to assemble on his HUD the moment something huge appeared in the middle of the hangar. Tony flew higher, trying to figure out what it was. As it slowly took shape, it began to look like a massive slimy doughnut with violet energy cackling all across it.

“Friday?”

“I have no idea. I have tried contacting Stephen Strange, Magik and Wanda, but none of them are answering. I have also tried googling it, but all to no avail.”

“Googling it? Really?” Tony asked, as he was zig-zagging around what seemed to be fountains of slime shooting out of the thing. On the other side of the hangar, Sam was doing the same thing. He was periodically shooting at the slimy blob, but instead of harming the thing, it just seemed to make it glow brighter.

“Have a better idea, genius?”

Tony sighed as he tried to make sense of the readings on his HUD. The thing seemed to be an enormous source of energy, incapacitating most other electrical systems nearby. But his suit was thankfully well shielded against any outside interference with its systems.

After a moment of consideration, Tony aimed his repulsors, shooting a beam of anti-matter at the creature. That should neutralise its energy output.

For a moment, nothing happened as the thing got hit by the beam. Instead of dropping dead, though – assuming it was even alive – it suddenly grew considerably in size. And became very angry. Tony was targeted by a cascade of slimy shots. He managed to avoid most of them, but one still grazed him, piercing right through his shields. A jolt of pain went through his arm as the suit dissolved where he was hit.

 _Shit_. This thing was more powerful than he had bargained on.

Suddenly, Sam appeared next to him, looking rather terrified. “Are you alright, Tony?”

Tony grit his teeth against the pain. In a moment, the painkillers his suit was equipped with would do their work. “Yeah. You?”

“Yeah. You can’t reach Strange or anyone else? This thing is damn powerful, whatever we shoot at it just seems to make it _more_ powerful, I don’t know if the other Avengers will be quick enough…”

Before Tony could answer, Sam had dodged to the right, frantically trying to escape a spitball from the creature. Tony wanted to cast a shield over him, using a different configuration, but before he managed to, a tentacle suddenly protruding from the slimy heap had knocked him into the wall. He desperately fought for breath. When he flew up into the air again, going into stealth mode, he saw that Sam lay on the ground close to the creature, his wings broken. His eyes were closed.

Tony felt a wave of panic wash over him. Another person wearing that red and blue uniform dead, because of him. His voice sounded strangled when he commanded Friday to run a scan.

“… He’s alive, Tony. But if you don’t think of something quick, you won’t be for much longer!!”

Tony breathed out in relief as the thing turned its entire focus on him. Damn it, clearly, the stealth mode didn’t work on a creature of magic. It occurred to Tony that he didn’t have much of a choice at this point. But how was he even going to get a hold of him?

Trying to fly closer to where Sam lay to extract him, Tony activated a random communication frequency. Maybe it would have been nice had Doom _not_ kept his promise of not tracking Tony anymore.

His own voice sounded panicked to his ears as he talked into the line. “Doom? So, remember that line about help with mag−”

Before he had time to finish the sentence, Doom appeared beside him, floating in a bubble of purple energy. He paid Tony almost no attention as he was scrutinising the slimy thing. In the red lights of the hangar’s alarm system, his face looked almost devilish.

Then he shot a beam of primal magical energy at the creature. Instead of being fussed by it, though, the blob just grew even more in size and started bombarding Doom with shots of… whatever it was. Tony only had time to make out the look of surprise on Doom’s face before Doom teleported to the other side of the hangar, easily evading the attack.

“This dweller is a much more powerful than they usually are.” It was hard to make out Doom’s voice over the gulping sounds the creature made.

“Well, what do you intend to do about it?” Tony yelled back while programming updates to his shields that should hopefully be able to withstand the attacks.

“Vanquish it, of course.” Doom started shooting beams of differently coloured energy at the thing. Tony sighed as it only grew and grew, emitting more and more violet energy.

“Doom, it doesn’t work! It seems to consume all kinds of energy you throw at it, okay? Mystical as well as technological!” Tony winced as Doom suddenly popped up on his side of the hangar again, his eyes narrowed in anger. He was standing on the ground this time, close to the wall, hands raised.

“This dweller is also a lot more hungry than it should be.”

“Dweller? Care to elaborate?” Tony asked, as he dodged a bolt of violet energy.

“Creatures living between the dimensions, consuming magic. Normally, they are small and a nuisance, but nothing to worry about. This one, however, seems positively starved.” Doom projected a barrier on them as the creature tried to attack again.

“I’ll try one more spell.” Doom’s whole body seemed to glow with blue energy as he hurled another blast at the creature. As Doom slumped against the wall behind him, clearly having exhausted his magical energies, the creature seemed to falter for a moment. Tony almost breathed out in relief, but then the thing expanded more than ever before and shot back.

Tony expected Doom to teleport away, but he didn’t, still leaning against the wall, his chest heaving. Almost instinctively, Tony projected a protective sphere over Doom and hoped that it was going to hold this time.

Doom’s eyes were round as saucers in the flickering light of the hangar as the shot from the creature was deflected by Tony’s barrier. He turned to Tony, something like disbelief written over his face.

“Come on, Doom, get up in the air again, or this thing’ll fry you!” Tony yelled. “And please tell me you’ve got other ideas!” He checked his HUD. Vision, Thor and Spider-Man were apparently incoming, but still too far away to effectively help them against this creature that grew more powerful by the minute. Working shields were better than nothing, but they brought them no closer to defeating the thing.

Doom seemed to gather strength again, levitating up to where Tony was floating. “I have an idea.”

Tony looked at Doom wildly as the thing seemed to prepare for another full-on attack, pulsing violet. “Good.”

Doom looked tense, his body almost humming with energy. “It’s not the sort of magic I usually do.”

“Well, now’s the time to step out of your comfort zone, Doomy!” Tony deflected another burst of energy aimed at them.

“You have to give me your hand.” When Tony turned towards Doom, his hand was outstretched.

Tony recoiled. “What?”

Doom yelled over the deafening noise of the creature getting ready for a new onslaught. “Give me your hand! I need to establish a magical conduit!”

Tony stared. What if Doom was fucking with him? Could he really trust him? On the other side, Doom was clearly in danger here too and had a vested interest in vanquishing the creature…

After a moment of hesitation, Tony gripped Doom’s hand. Doom smiled faintly at him, then he turned to face the creature again. Tony couldn’t feel much through the armour, but the moment their hands were intertwined, he saw Doom positively light up. The air was humming with magic.

Then everything turned upside down.

_Tony saw his father, forcing a glass of whiskey on him. Then there was Rumiko, dying in his arms. A woman he didn’t know screaming in pain as she was dragged away from him. An endless forest in winter and a feeling of unquenchable sadness as he knew that he would never be whole again._

_Everything hurt._

_Tony gasped for air, tried to resurface from the images oppressing him, making his stomach turn, but then he saw Steve. “I remember.” Felt his nose shatter as it connected with Steve’s fist. Saw a machine, a machine he had poured all his hopes into, exploding, shattering those hopes forever. Shattering his face with them._

_Then he was lying on the floor, clutching a bottle of whiskey, and Steve was telling him how weak he was as he left him alone, like all the others. There was Reed, and Valeria, and he knew he could never be part of a family, forever alone in his castle − − −_

Tony sat up with an undignified scream. He must have fallen to the floor without realising. The armour had disassembled around him, probably triggered by the magic he had just been subjected to. There was a heap of warm, mushy material under him, and Tony saw that it was the creature that looked as if it had imploded. Slime was running down his face.

Tony desperately tried to calm his racing heartbeat down. He still felt half stuck in the memories he had just lived, his own and −

“It was a spell drawing energy from the opening of two minds to each other, and from the pain and anger within.”

Tony raised his eyes to Doom standing over him. He couldn’t quite make him out through the haze of terror still stuck in his mind. And the slime running down his face and obscuring his vision didn’t help.

After a moment of silence, Tony laughed. It sounded very brittle. “And you couldn’t have warned me before?”

“Calm down.”

Tony knew he was shaking, and he tried to follow the order and get a grip, but the feeling of unwanted and unexpected intrusion into his mind, the feelings of terror and sadness and loneliness didn’t want to leave him.

Suddenly, though, Tony felt a warm sensation washing over his body, then his emotions seemed to slip away from him until there was a veil of indifference between him and what had just happened. Doom had his hand outstretched. It seemed to glow.

A wave of cold terror threatened to wash over him at the sight, but even the terror was dimmed to the point of being almost unrecognisable. Tony’s whole body tensed, even though the fear couldn’t quite reach his mind.

_It felt like being drunk._

“Relax, I have only used a simple calming spell on you.” He couldn’t make out if Doom sounded impatient or worried. Maybe both.

“St- stop it. Right now.” Tony knew that his teeth were chattering, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Doom was using magic on him, without his consent. Doom could do anything, if he only wanted to, Tony was at his mercy, Doom had in all probability seen his memories, Doom could turn him upside down, make him do his bidding… Against his will, a low whine escaped Tony’s mouth.

Doom withdrew his hand at once, and Tony felt his emotions return. It wasn’t agreeable, pain and fear intertwined, but those emotions were undoubtedly _his_. Relief flooded him as he breathed out slowly and leant his back on the wall behind him.

“Your friend is fine, if still unconscious.” Without Tony noticing, Doom had walked away and was now bent over Sam’s prone form.

Steadying himself on the wall, Tony got up as a huge weight seemed to drop from his heart. “Good.”

Doom looked at Tony over his shoulder. “Have you brought the wand of Watoomb here? Those creatures are attracted to magical artefacts, consuming their energy.”

Tony momentarily closed his eyes. So of course it was his fault, in more ways than one. “Yes. It’s over there.”

As Doom walked over to the crate Tony had indicated, Tony finally felt the tension fully leave his body. The thing was dead. It was over. They had been very lucky.

“How did you manage to catch my signal?”

Doom didn’t even bother to look up at Tony as he carefully took the wand from the casing. “You forbade me from tracking you. You didn’t forbid me from monitoring all communication frequencies you use.”

Tony groaned as he made his way over to where Doom was kneeling. “How is that any different?”

Doom didn’t answer, which was so unusual that it made Tony take a proper look at him. He seemed ruffled and there was something wild in his eyes. The hand in which he now held the wand seemed to shake a little. What had happened had also taken its toll on him, Tony realised with a jolt.

It couldn’t have been easy for someone like Doom to show him his memories. And a bunch of fucked-up memories they were, Tony had to admit. He suddenly felt rather terrible on Doom’s behalf.

“Forget it. And thank you. This would have ended badly without you.” Tony tried to sound as sincere as possible. Heck, frankly, he didn’t even have to pretend – he was truly grateful for Doom’s help, even if the man had no idea how to respect another’s boundaries.

Doom averted his eyes. There was a moment of silence as he put the wand back in the crate. When he looked up, his face was unreadable.

“Will you help me?”

Tony frowned. It was more than untypical for Doom to ask for help from anyone, proud and arrogant as he was. “What with? I’d be quite glad to not see any of those slimy blobs again too soon, thank you very much.”

Doom shook his head. “That’s not it. I’d like to discuss something with you. In private.”

Tony’s first reflex was outright refusal. But then he remembered that Doom had, in fact, not tried to harm him since he claimed to have reformed. Tony thought of Anthony, looking so ridiculously happy with that other Victor and telling him to give Doom a chance. He thought of all the emergency gadgets he had built into his armour, allowing him to call in support the moment Doom did anything dodgy and defend himself in more ways than he could count. And he thought of how vulnerable Doom had seemed only moments before.

Tony sighed. To heck with it. His HUD told him that the other Avengers were about to arrive in a matter of minutes. Sam was only unconscious, he could have Friday monitor him until they were here.

When Friday’s avatar popped up, she looked relieved. “That was tight, Tony.”

“I know. Please keep an eye on Sam and inform the others of what has happened?”

Friday giggled. “I will. Except for the part about you leaving with Doom, I suppose.”

Tony rolled his eyes and turned back to Doom. “Okay, let’s go.”

Doom smiled, and it was as close to a real, normal smile as Tony had ever seen on his face. “Then let’s go before your team arrives and sees you leave with a known supervillain.”

He held out his hand. Tony nodded and took it.

The world disappeared around them.


	3. Things That Could Be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Doom asks for Tony's help, Tony is very surprised. Could he really work with a self-proclaimed former supervillain? However, Doom has good arguments in store to make Tony question his own suspicions.

Tony felt slightly nauseous when the world solidified around him again. He let go of Doom’s hand and looked around. It seemed to be some kind of lab, all sorts of gadgets carelessly strewn around. A table in front of him had multiple wrenches and screwdrivers on it, a transistor placed in the middle, and something that looked like some sort of… elixir next to it. On his left, Tony could make out Doom’s old suit of armour, dark and abandoned. Tony reached out to touch it, but stopped himself at the last moment.

When he turned to Doom, he saw him put the box with the Wand on a table. “Where are we? I don’t presume this is Latveria?”

Doom shook his head. “I have abandoned my old country, seeking to work in a more… international manner.”

Tony bit back the biting retort sitting on the tip of his tongue. Now that he agreed to this whole thing, he should really let the man talk. “So why did you bring me here?”

Doom looked at Tony intently. “To show you what I am trying to do and ask your advice. And your help.”

Tony snorted. “My advice and help? My my, Doomy, I didn’t think I’d live to see this day.”

Doom didn’t reply, but he cast down his eyes, and somehow, that uncharacteristic lack of goading gave Tony pause. He swallowed. “Okay, I am here and all ears, fire away.”

Doom’s lips quirked up. He made a sweeping gesture and a series of holo-screens appeared around them. Tony could make out maps and calculations. He frowned and went closer to one screen. It showed a reading entitled ‘transdimensional activities’. Not much was happening at the moment. Another map, translucently floating in the background, was called ‘Avengers surveillance systems’. That certainly wasn’t good.

Tony frowned and turned back to Doom, who was flicking through screens at immense speed. “How did you obtain all this?”

Doom looked sly when he answered. “I have my… sources. Not too many of them a _superhero_ would appreciate.” He made the word ‘superhero’ sound like it was quite disgusting and irksome, a particularly filthy kind of maggot or something of the sort.

Tony sighed and leant on a table while trying to get a closer look at some of the other screens. “And you are showing me this secret villain database why?”

Doom licked his lips and seemed to backtrack on Tony’s question. “It is a compilation of all the knowledge I have acquired over the years, both intel that resembles what your Avengers have and more… arcane sources.”

Tony walked up to Doom as he pulled up a screen that read ‘magical artifacts and their locations’. It was a map full to the brim with blinking dots. When Tony was standing beside him, Doom zoomed in and pulled up a little window that read ‘Wand of Watoomb, dimension 77a. Current property of Tony Stark. Location: not tracked.’

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Oh, so you actually kept your promise of not tracking me? Well, I mean, you apparently hacked the Avengers’ surveillance systems instead, but I guess it’s a start.”

Doom fully ignored Tony’s comment, instead continuing to browse through different screens. “For years, I have used this knowledge for my personal gain, establishing world-wide monitoring systems, exploiting my enemies’ weaknesses and gathering power. I have tired of this game.”

“Game?” Tony asked disbelievingly, shaking his head slightly. This was off to a great start. “You call that _a game_? Do you even realise how many people you’ve killed?!”

“They were necessary sacrifices at the time.” Doom said coldly.

Tony could feel himself get _really_ worked up. A surge of white-hot anger went through him. “You’ve made life hell for many of my close friends! Do you have even the slightest inkling of what you’ve done to Reed and Sue?!”

At those words, the calm façade Doom had been holding up seemed to crumble. His eyes were flashing dangerously and he raised his right hand slightly. Tony could feel energy cackling in the air. For one almost exhilarating moment, he thought Doom was going to attack him. Finally, he had managed to get through the masks, get at the man below that smooth, polished exterior.

But then Doom visibly deflated and let his hand fall to his side. “I understand why you feel that way.”

“Great. I feel so understood. Now if you started feeling the same way, maybe we’d make some headway here,” Tony replied sarcastically.

Doom narrowed his eyes. The look from them was piercing. “I refuse to be crippled by feelings of guilt like you, Stark. I have other priorities. A world to help.”

Tony balled his hands into fists, his nails boring into the soft skin of his palms. He had to get a grip. This was getting him nowhere. He was talking to _Doom_ , for heaven’s sake. Reed would laugh at him. What was he even expecting. ( _What you saw in your alternate self’s dimension_ , a treacherous little voice whispered at the back of his mind.)

He exhaled slowly. Time to get to the point instead of getting all worked up over Doom being, well, a remorseless villain. Tony found calming himself down harder than he expected – apparently the magical ordeal he’d been through had left its traces, blood rushing loudly in his ears.

After a few moments, Tony trusted himself to speak neutrally, even if he still felt somewhat unstable. “Save the world, huh. So tell me, why do you need me in that grand plan?”

Doom looked straight at Tony for once, and he looked absolutely open and honest. (But of course, Tony had never been able to detect Doom’s lies, so he had better watch himself and not be fooled just because Doom wasn’t wearing a literal mask anymore.)

“You have the resources and the connections and a meagre scientific talent that will be useful in assisting me in my endeavours.” Doom said seriously.

Tony snorted in surprise at the barb, but then he saw that Doom was smiling. Was he just messing with Tony for fun now? A grin stole over Tony’s face before he could stop it. _The bastard._

With a certain measure of surprise, Tony noted that Doom’s distraction had worked – he felt more stable again, his breathing had evened out.

Doom’s eyes twinkled a little at Tony’s gleeful expression, but then he became serious again. “Despite what you might think, I am also aware of the fact that… you have a certain moral compass I seem to be lacking.”

Tony stared. What the hell was Doom even _thinking_? “You come to me, of all people, for a _moral compass_? Have you paid attention to what the wider superhero community tends to think of said compass?”

Doom sniffed at that. “Are you referring to your actions while brainwashed by the Skull?”

How good of Doom to bring that up. Tony started rubbing his temples. His chest suddenly felt tight again. _Damn it_ , there it was again, that strange feeling of having no walls against his own emotions. He really hated magic. “There’s no shortage of things I am thinking of. That, the superhero war…”

“Those things weren’t your fault.” Doom’s voice had a sharp edge to it.

Tony’s headache seemed to worsen by the second. The images he’d seen when Doom had opened their minds to each other pressed on his thoughts more acutely than before. He gave a brittle laugh. “How good of you to assure me of that. Now, if only you weren’t the guy who _never_ thinks _anything_ is his fault.”

“Well, that wouldn’t stop me from thinking everything I wasn’t to blame for was your fault, would it,” Doom remarked dryly.

Tony had half turned around because he didn’t want Doom to see how unsettled he was (get a _grip_ , Stark, time to _move on_ , shake the effects of that damn spell) when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Tony flinched. He looked up into Doom’s grey-greenish eyes. There was something like… sympathy in them. For a moment, neither Doom nor Tony said a word.

Then Doom cleared his throat. “Would you like a calming spell now? The after-effects of magical mind melding are hard to deal with for an organism not used to channeling that kind of magic, or having such magic channeled through it.”

Tony almost laughed out loud because that statement was so unexpected. “No, for heaven’s sake, I really _don’t_ want another spell.”

“I understand.” Doom’s hand was still on Tony’s shoulder. It was oddly comforting, certainly a lot more comforting than the prospect of Doom using more magic on him. (This had to be a new low. He found touches by Doom _comforting._ )

(But Doom had _asked_ whether Tony wished him to use magic on him. Something uncurled in Tony’s stomach.)

Doom was still looking at Tony searchingly. Tony didn’t really know what he expected, but his breathing had eased again. He closed his eyes for a second when Doom started talking again.

“I mean what I said. I would like us to work together to use the data I have collected for the betterment of humankind.”

It was an insane offer. And an enticing offer. If Doom was sincere… If he meant what he said… What Tony could achieve using the data collected here was unthinkable.

If Doom didn’t mean it, well, he’d have to put him down. Or send him to Camelot for good, let him have fun with another zombie army.

And Doom apparently had a hell of a lot of the Avengers’ data, which was more than dangerous if no one held him in check. Someone had to make sure Doom didn’t use that information for nefarious purposes.

Tony could feel his resolve waver.

“And how are you going to convince me of you not backstabbing me at the next turn? The way you’ve always done before?” Tony challenged.

“To that end, I wish to show you something else.” Doom indicated a platform behind him, letting his hand fall from Tony’s shoulder (Tony most definitely didn’t feel a sense of loss at that). With a flick of Doom’s hand, the platform started glowing.

Tony swallowed. He knew exactly what this was. It never bore well. “Your time platform.”

“Yes. I have examined our future. I want to show you what I saw.”

“You have _examined our future_? Isn’t that supposed to be incredibly dangerous, time paradoxes and all?” Tony was getting more worried by the second.

Doom snorted derisively. “Please, I am not an incompetent X-Man. I have long ago figured out a technique that simply allows the traveler to view events without being able to interfere with them. And you know that jumping ahead from this point in time will only land us in a possible future.”

Tony took a deep breath. He didn’t know why he was going along with this. Maybe Doom’s spell had really messed up his head. But at least the time platform was _science_ , and not more magic.

There was something in Doom’s posture and in his eyes, almost pleading.

_He is afraid I’ll say no. He genuinely wants me to see this._

Tony nodded and took a step closer. “Okay. Do your magic, Doctor.”

Doom’s whole frame seemed to relax a fraction. He nodded. “Well, now that is something I didn’t think I’d live to hear you say. Step closer.”

When they stood side by side on the platform, it glowed even more brightly. There was a surge of movement Tony had experienced before, then Doom and him stood in what looked like a highly modern laboratory.

Someone was sitting on a couch in the corner. Tony squinted, then he saw that it was an older man. A man who looked like a future version of Reed Richards.

Heck, it of course _was_ a future version of Reed. This was very odd.

He turned to Doom. “Can he see us?”

Doom shook his head. “We are only here as a spectral presence. I told you I made sure we can’t alter anything about what we see.”

Tony heard a door sliding open, and in stepped… an older Tony with greying hair. His face bore many lines, around the eyes, around the mouth – and they looked like laugh lines, Tony realised. Older Tony looked like a man who enjoyed life.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Reed, I know you’re busy with the Fabulous Four…” Tony heard himself say.

Older Reed got up and waved off the apology. The two men walked towards one another and hugged. (Reed almost never hugged him, Tony thought. The future seemed like quite a different place.)

When they had finished their greeting ritual, older Tony raised his voice again. “Has Steve been in touch?”

Reed chuckled. “Steve would never be in touch with me if he could be in touch with you, Tony.”

Now Tony was completely dumbfounded. He looked over at Doom again. Who seemed almost… nervous, glancing at Tony, then averting his eyes the moment he saw him looking.

Suddenly, a big screen above what looked like older Tony’s desk came to life. Everyone turned towards it, both the people actually present at that moment in time and the two spectral time travelers. A handsome, proud face appeared on it. It was clearly an older Doom.

Older Tony beamed at the projection, older Reed smiled fondly. “Victor. What’s up?”

Doom of the future smiled back. “Hello Reed. Tony. I only wanted to check in with you. Those kid Avengers are shaping up to be quite useful. Have you investigated that disturbance we found the other night?”

Older Tony waved it off. “It was nothing. Just a fluctuation in the magical energy field. Really, everything is so calm these days, I don’t even know why we bother still heroing from time to time.”

Older Doom raised his eyebrows. “You love it.”

Older Tony laughed good-naturedly. “So do you, Victor, so do you. We are hopeless.”

Tony had been staring at the whole scene, transfixed. Now he turned to his Doom again. “This is us? Really? And not just a scene you manufactured to convince me of your good intentions and then royally fuck me over?”

Doom inclined his head. “The future isn’t a one-way street, as you well know. But this could be us.”

Tony turned back to the scene in front of him. The older versions of them were still chatting amiably, with Reed intersecting from time to time. Apparently, older Doom was working with the future Avengers in the field. And they had a close cooperation with the Fabulous Four going (Tony wondered what members the future’s Fantastic Four comprised of). The discussion turned to matters of science, as the three men were apparently working on a big project that Tony could only guess at.

Then, as their older selves were getting ready to say goodbye, he heard Doom softly exclaim “enough”. The world dissolved around Tony again and in the blink of an eye, he found himself in Doom’s lab.

Doom stepped off the platform and turned to one of his desks. He started examining a piece of equipment deposited there.

Tony let himself fall into a chair. “Huh. That was quite something.”

Doom’s back was to him. “It was us working together. Us making the world a better, safer place.”

Tony laughed weakly. “As long as we’re not fucking while doing that there as well.”

Doom glanced at him, then he glanced away, looking somewhat guilty. He started fiddling with something in his pocket.

Tony held up his hand, stalling Doom’s movements, as the smile slipped off his face. “No.”

Doom suddenly seemed very busy with a little tablet that had appeared in his hand out of nowhere.

Tony groaned in disbelief. He had swallowed one alternate Tony being in love with Doom, because okay, that guy was a _sorcerer_ , he was clearly the odd one out as far as Tony Starks went. But his older self, with Reed as his friend and Steve as his… whatever Steve was? And Doom as his lover? “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

He was about to voice exactly how he felt about the universe conspiring against him like that when he remembered the expression Doom had worn at the display of affection of their alternate sorcerer selves they had witnessed. Then Tony thought of how happy both his alternate and his future selves had seemed with their ‘Victors’. He shut his mouth and resolutely didn’t think about how Doom was already beginning to change, for him, to become more like the two Victors he had seen…

Tony firmly shut that line of thought down. Doom had given him a lot to consider without him giving in to ridiculous longings he would never have thought himself capable of before yesterday.

At any rate, if that was really their future – or one possible future – maybe Doom was right. Maybe they should work together, maybe they should pool their energies and resources and build up the largest, most potent defense system the world had ever seen.

Maybe Tony would bear those laugh lines then, knowing he’d actually done his part in building a better future.

Tony sighed and carded his hands through his hair. He didn’t know what to think. Was he being utterly foolish for feeling tempted by what he’d just seen?

Then a burst of bright light erupted from the time platform and swallowed all of Tony’s thoughts.


	4. Second Chances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When they get thrown through time, Tony discovers that Doom isn't as remorseless as he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pheeew, this took a while, life got in the way, sorry... But thanks to everyone who's still reading! Rest assured that this definitely isn't abandoned, there's still lots to go :)

The almost familiar surge of movement hurled Tony about wildly.

He landed on his hands and knees. This time, his head didn’t seem to take being thrown about lightly; everything around Tony turned. He started retching, but nothing came. No wonder, he hadn’t eaten anything, so what was there to throw up?

This day was getting better and better. Of course getting involved with Doom had been a terrible idea.

A shadow fell on Tony and he saw Doom’s outstretched hand hovering in front of his face. With a sigh, he took it and got up.

Doom looked wary, a deep frown wrinkling his forehead. Tony looked around and saw that they seemed to be on a campus. It looked like Empire State University, where Tony had given talks before. It was a lovely summer day and the lawn was impeccably green.

Tony looked back at Doom, who still seemed concerned. “Considering we’ve clearly traveled through time, am I right in assuming that we ended up in your university days?”

Doom looked at Tony sharply. “I didn’t expect you to conclude that so quickly. Yes, we have indeed ended up in my past.” Doom nodded in the direction of a slender youth sitting under a tree not too far from them, furiously scribbling notes on some sheets of paper in his lap. Now that he had spotted him, Tony saw that it was clearly a teenage Doom – pretty with his dark hair and strong eyebrows, but also rather brooding as he was staring at the calculations.

Tony rubbed his hands together nervously. “You know, I have kinda seen enough alternate versions of ourselves for the next few, oh, lifetimes, so how about we get back to the present and that lovely conversation about working together?”

Doom’s frown deepened. “I wish I could get us back, but whatever triggered us to be thrown through time doesn’t want us to get back. Our pathways are blocked and I have no way to open a tunnel through time from here, without a time platform.”

“Well, let’s ask your younger self here for some equipment and we build one. You’ve done it lots of times, and I’ve done it before as well, we’ll be home in the blink of an eye and find out what caused that malfunction.”

Doom turned to him, his nostrils flaring. “This was no malfunction. Doom’s equipment does not malfunction. This was someone wanting us to be thrown through time, Stark. And I don’t think we can interact with anyone here.”

Tony held Doom’s eyes for a moment, then he let himself drop down onto the grass again and stared into space morosely. Great. Given that no one had reacted to the sudden appearance of two men on the lawn of the University, Doom was probably right about them not being able to interact with the people here. And time travel wasn’t Tony’s area of expertise to begin with, and now Doom had told him that someone was actively working against them, and seemed at a loss as to what they should do.

_If Doom doesn’t pretend to know all the answers, we must be genuinely screwe_ d, Tony thought.

Tony looked up again to see that Doom had moved towards his younger self, who had started talking to some other students, it appeared. He got up and walked towards the group.

“− shut up, Doom, you arrogant bastard.”

Young Doom sneered at one of the men in front of him. “Or what, Grimm? You know that in case of doubt, you’re the one who has to leave this University, certainly not me. You’re no more than glorified biceps. I’m working for the government.”

Tony stared at the other man who was positively fuming, and it truly seemed to be a young Ben Grimm, all square-jawed and with the physique that pointed to the career in football that Tony knew he had left behind. It was somehow unsettling, to see him unmarred by the Fantastic Four’s first adventure in space.

When Ben spoke again, his words sounded pressed. “Keep your trap shut, Doom. Or you’ll regret it.”

Young Doom smiled haughtily. “I’ll regret it? What, are you going to torture me some more with your less than refined attempts at goading? Amusing as that would be, I have business to attend to, so if you’ll please excuse me –“

He made to get up. Tony could almost feel his Doom stiffen beside him. Tony looked at him and saw that he had grown very pale. All of a sudden, he turned around and hurried towards one of the halls while his younger self was still gathering his books. Tony raised his hand to stop Doom and opened his mouth, but he was too late – Doom disappeared inside the building.

Tony drew his eyebrows together and ran after him. Whatever had gotten into Doom, this couldn’t be good.

When he entered the building, his eyes took a moment to adjust to the light, muted after the bright day outside. He raised a hand to shield his eyes and saw Doom disappear around a corner upstairs.

“Doom, wait!”

There was no reaction and Tony hurried after him, taking the stairs two steps at a time. When he rounded the corner, he saw Doom walk through a door at the other end of the corridor. Tony got there, panting, and realised the door was still closed – so apparently they could pass through objects here, or at least Doom could. Tony tried to grip the handle, but his hand couldn’t find any substance. He squinted at the unusual sensation, then he took a deep breath and simply walked towards the wooden surface, half expecting to bang his head on it any minute.

There was an odd cold shiver on Tony’s skin, then he was on the other side. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to adjust to the strange sensation and suppressing the sudden fear of just falling through the ground if he had become able to phase through things. When he opened them again, still very much in the same place (he _really_ hated magic), he saw Doom standing in front of some sort of machine, taller than a man and built around some sort of seat in its middle. He seemed agitated, trying to touch it, but his hands passed through it. Apparently, he was unaware of Tony’s presence.

Cautiously, Tony took some steps closer. Doom still took no note of him whatsoever. When he didn’t manage to touch the machine yet again, Doom balled his hands into fists, breathing heavily.

Tony licked his lips that suddenly felt very dry. He had never seen Doom like that.

“Doom?” he asked as gently as he could.

When Doom spun around, his eyes were wild. “ _What?_ ”

Tony instinctively took a step back and raised his hands. He immediately scolded himself for the reaction, because Doom seemed to recoil – Doom wasn’t going to harm him, at least not here and now, and Tony had better get used to that. He turned his defensive gesture into a placating one.

“Hey, I didn’t mean to scare you, sorry. What… what are you doing here?“

Doom looked straight at him for a moment, then he dropped his gaze. “What does it look like?”

Tony rubbed his hands together nervously. “Frankly, it looks like you are trying to interfere with the past, and I thought we had established that that is never a good idea. Is that…?” Tony indicated the machine, and he didn’t even have to finish his question when Doom nodded. He seemed defeated.

“Yes. In a matter of minutes, my younger self will switch it on.” Doom reached towards the machine again, but again, he only grabbed thin air. He made a frustrated growl.

Tony let out a slow breath. So this is where they had ended up – the genesis of Doctor Doom. The afternoon before young Doom switched on a machine intended to bring his mother back from the dead, only to have it explode in his face, disfiguring him and leading to his expulsion from University. From what Tony knew of the story, at least.

And apparently, they were destined to watch it happen, and there was apparently nothing Doom could do. But not for the lack of trying.

This was bad.

Doom was growing increasingly frantic as Tony heard voices approach the dormitory. The door opened and young Doom walked inside with an intense scowl on his face, a cheerful young man trailing behind him. Tony froze. It was clearly teenage Reed.

He heard his Doom make a low sound, a pained little groan. Tony swallowed.

Reed had let himself into the room despite young Doom’s best attempt at closing the door in his face. Victor turned around, clearly annoyed and willing to just ignore Reed, whose eyes immediately fell on some notes Victor had placed on the desk. The notes he’d taken earlier under the tree, Tony assumed.

Reed’s eyes widened. “What’s…? My _God_ … How did he – but that’s not – this is so far ahead of the curve –“

Reed’s muttering got interrupted by Victor angrily snatching the papers out of his hand. “Stop snooping through my work, Richards!”

Reed seemed perturbed, but his eyes had a certain far-away quality that Tony associated with him being lost in scientific thoughts. Some things apparently never changed. “I’m sorry, Victor… But… you’re working on dimensional wards? And matter transmutation, right? It looks amazing… But some of the equations didn’t make any sense to me… Shouldn’t you adjust the quantum flow to…”

Young Doom’s eyes flashed dangerously as he drew together his eyebrows. He looked livid. “Perhaps you’ve confused me with someone in need of a _collaborator_ , Richards. But I assure you, I’m not. _Get out! Now!_ ”

Reed looked confused and somewhat hurt, but he shrugged and turned to leave. When the door fell shut behind him Tony, who had been watching the scene with some fascination, turned back to Doom.

Who seemed truly desperate now. Tony flinched at the sparks dancing over Doom’s skin as he tried to interfere with the machine once more, but all to no avail. The sound he made when his arm passed through the contraption once more was an angry snarl, but when Tony looked at his eyes, they looked wet.

Tony took the last step towards him and put a hand on his arm, trying to calm him. Doom winced and turned to him. He looked on the brink of madness, eyes wide open and glassy, and Tony shuddered a little, thinking back to earlier encounters when Doom had seemed as if he’d lost it, stuck in some power-hungry fantasies. But this was different – this was far from the self-assured villain. This was desperation, palpable in the almost uncontrolled flurry of sparks Doom was projecting around him. Tony wasn’t even sure if Doom was doing that on purpose or by accident.

“Hey, stop it, you can’t change what happened! You said so yourself.” Tony tried to hold onto Doom’s arm – at least they could touch each other here – but Doom slapped his hand away and spoke through clenched teeth.

“Yes I can. I’m not allowing those events to unfold.”

He reached up and seemed to channel some sort of magical energy. There was a bolt of lightning and Tony shielded his eyes against it. Doom seemed to glow from within as young Victor, completely unperturbed by events he clearly couldn’t see, went to what looked like the control panel of the machine and switched it on.

Doom’s eyes glowed bright red.

“ _What are you doing?!_ ” Tony yelled against what sounded like a million computers switching on at once.

“Stopping this once and for all.” Doom’s voice was cold and clipped as he channeled the energies towards his younger self, who had put on some sort of helmet and was walking towards the machine now, evidently to use it. When the red light almost touched his forehead, young Victor’s eyes grew wide as he seemed to finally notice something. The spell touched his hair and it seemed to grow translucent, almost disappearing from sight.

Suddenly, Tony knew with overwhelming clarity what was going to happen.

_Doom was going to kill his younger self. And undo himself in the process, in all probability._

“No!”

Before Tony knew what he was doing, he jumped at Doom, throwing him to the ground and almost landing on top of him. Doom cursed as Tony felt the magic smash into him like a brick wall. His concentration broken, Doom tried to restore the spell, but Tony smashed his hands to the ground, holding them by the wrists over his head.

Doom quickly got over his apparent shock at Tony’s actions, cursing again as he threw Tony off him. Tony landed on his back, the breath knocked out of him, and Doom was towering above him, his eyes flashing dangerously. For a moment, Tony thought Doom was going to strike him, or do something worse. On instinct, he tried to activate the armour from his wrist, but it didn’t work, and fear flooded Tony’s body −

Panting heavily, Doom turned back towards his younger self that had sat down in the machine and was about to switch it on. Doom flung out his arm, but there was only a shadow of the energies he’d called upon earlier, and before he got any further Tony had twisted his arm, using Doom’s own momentum against him as he threw him to the ground next to Tony once more. Doom’s face twisted in a mask of rage as he raised his hands to Tony’s throat and started squeezing, and Tony couldn’t breathe, but then Doom suddenly let go, and Tony wondered why –

Everything around them went up in flames. The ground beneath their feet disappeared as they were hurled through the air. Tony vaguely thought that it was a good thing they weren’t actually corporally present, or they’d be screwed now –

Then he landed on the lawn outside, and Tony didn’t feel anything. Until Doom smashed into him, their limbs tangled in the force of the fall. It hurt like hell. Tony’s ears rang as he turned to lay on his back, looking up at the blue sky above now painted with smoke.

He felt dizzy. All around him, people seemed to be yelling, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Time seemed sluggish.

Then Doom was above him and gripped his shoulders, teeth clenched and eyes shooting daggers. Tony winced. He should probably brace himself for some sort of punch, but he seemed unable to raise his arms. And the punch never came.

Instead, Doom’s face seemed to gradually fall. There was something unreadable in his eyes. Then he let go of Tony’s shoulders and slumped back down on the lawn.

The ringing in Tony’s ears had finally stopped and he made to sit up. The world around him shifted and turned, but he gingerly managed to sit cross-legged, burying his face in his hands. After a few deep breaths, he turned to Doom.

Who was staring at him, and Tony couldn’t tell if it was anger or confusion or a mixture of the two or something else entirely. “Why did you do that?” he asked, and his voice sounded impassive.

Tony exhaled slowly. “Were you trying to erase your younger self from existence before you became Doctor Doom?”

Doom looked caught out, and it was so very typical that he didn’t think anyone else capable of seeing through his brilliant plans. As if it hadn’t been obvious. “Yes.”

“And in the process, you’d have annihilated yourself, right?”

Doom’s breathing hitched. “Yes.”

Tony looked at the burning hall without really seeing it. “I couldn’t let you do that.”

Doom snorted. “What, because of time paradoxes? Stark, don’t even pretend to know how different time lines work.”

Tony felt a vague surge of anger, after all, this was hardly the first time he was dealing with issues related to time travel, but now wasn’t the moment to remind Doom of that. “Because of that, yes. And because you’re the one who wants to change, right? How is _getting rid_ _of yourself_ changing, while probably affecting millions of lifelines in ways that can’t be foreseen?”

Doom closed his eyes for a second. “You’re the one who doesn’t believe me capable of changing.”

Tony clenched his jaw. “Maybe I was wrong. And either way, that’s no excuse to _steal away_ , never assuming responsibility for what you’ve done! You can’t just… flick your wrist and make the things you did go away!”

Tony realised he sounded more agitated than he wanted to, and Doom seemed to notice as well. His next words were oddly calm. “I could have, had you not stopped me.”

Tony rubbed his eyes. A dull headache was starting to form behind them. “I couldn’t let you do that. To the world. To yourself.”

Doom didn’t say anything, and for a while, they both just sat there, watching as medical help arrived and as the firefighters were quickly putting out the fire caused by the explosion. Then Tony spoke up again, his voice quiet.

“So… Are you regretting your own actions after all?”

Doom turned towards him sharply, apparently about to snap a reply. But when he saw Tony’s expression, he seemed to think better of it. “I’d prefer it had things gone differently. And if not differently… maybe it would have been better had they not happened at all.”

Tony carded his hands through the grass, looking at the blades running through his fingers. “I didn’t realise you felt that way.”

“What, because I’m a _villain_?” Doom’s chuckle was dark and utterly humourless.

Tony looked at Doom, a weight settling in his stomach at the tone of Doom’s voice. Maybe he had truly been unfair. He took a deep breath, willing himself to relax, until he felt he could muster a genuine little smile. “Well, you are full of surprises, Doomy, I’ll give you that.”

Doom still looked somewhat angry, but gradually, his face slipped into a more relaxed expression. He didn’t reciprocate Tony’s smile, though.

For another moment neither of them said a word. Then Tony shook himself a little. They had other things to do here, conversations about the nature of good and evil could definitely wait.

“How were you even able to do that anyways? That spell? You said we couldn’t interfere. And my armour sure as hell didn’t work just now, so I think you’re the only one with a usable skillset in this predicament.”

Doom chuckled again, not sounding happier. “It’s not strictly… usable for any less extreme purposes. I employed very dark magic, drawing upon the fabric of reality itself. Certain spells don’t obey the laws of time and space, Stark. I was linking myself to my younger self in order to annihilate it, effectively possessing my own past body to destroy it.”

Tony swallowed. “So, what kind of spells are we talking about here, exactly? Just that sort of creepy life-and-death-magic?”

Doom nodded. “This only worked because I proposed an exchange, a sacrifice for a sacrifice. It isn’t the sort of thing you want to do… regularly. It isn’t the sort of thing one gets out of alive.”

Tony sighed. “I knew there had to be a downside to those nice red lights. It all seemed so promising.”

Doom smirked and there was some humour in it this time, but he still seemed haunted, and when Tony got up, he offered him a hand. Doom looked a little surprised, but then he took it. Tony nodded at him, smiling reassuringly.

“Come on, let’s find a way back to our own time.”


	5. Sacrifices and Surprises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Escaping from the past puts Tony in danger. Doom is less than pleased.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, those two are getting a move on :D... Thanks for reading, everyone!

Doom pointed in the direction of another hall. “That is where Richards’ lab was. I propose we have a look at what he was working on.”

Tony nodded. Unseen, they passed through the crowd that had gathered in front of the building, people staring and pointing at the fire that was still raging where young Victor’s machine had exploded.

Once inside, Doom turned to walk down some stairs, then passed through a locked door. Tony followed him inside. The room was filled with what looked like cutting-edge technology of the time – huge clunky computers with downright medieval operating systems. Reed was standing in front of a console, a pair of goggles on his head, apparently completely lost in whatever he was doing. He clearly hadn’t taken note of the turmoil going on outside.

Tony’s eyes immediately found what appeared to be a small version of Reed’s interdimensional portals in a corner. He pointed it out to Doom.

“It seems Reed is already working with interdimensional tech? And looking at the variables on his console, he is experimenting right now?”

Doom, who had been gazing at Reed with a little frown on his face, turned to Tony. “Yes, he was dabbling with that technology at the time. However, our goal isn’t traveling between the dimensions.”

Tony bit his lip. “I know it isn’t, but if we know no other way, we could try and get to another dimension from here, one from which someone could send us back.”

Doom’s eyes lit up. “Traveling to another dimension should allow us to normally interact with people, as the effect of time travel from the modified platform would be invalidated.”

Tony grinned. He had hoped that this might be the case. “Exactly.”

After a moment Doom’s eyebrows drew together. “As we can’t interact with anything here, we’d have to take our chances at whatever destination Richards has set his eyes on now. Unless I invoke another spell that might allow us to interfere.”

Tony raised his hands in horror. “No, no more spells, okay? We’ll see what Reed has chosen and then decide.”

Doom nodded curtly and moved over to where Reed was standing, peering over his shoulder. Tony followed suit.

Reed seemed to just imput random variables, checking the settings of the portal. Tony drew his eyebrows together as he saw numbers of parallel universes flash by, most of them unknown to him. That wasn’t very helpful – they had to have Reed switch the thing on somehow. Tony let his gaze wander around the lab, looking for something that they could use to achieve that goal…

Suddenly, Reed stopped and double-checked the entry for a realm. Tony felt Doom tense beside him and turned to look at Reed’s screen again.

It said “Earth-9810: a world where superpowers only manifest as magic. State of technological development unknown.”

For a moment, Reed simply stood there, staring at the entry. Then he pulled a lever and the portal came to life with a low buzzing sound.

Doom sounded less than pleased when he spoke. “The earth the wand of Watoomb transported you to.”

Tony grinned. “Well, what a coincidence. We should try and go there, I’m sure that even in this time there’s lovely mages there who will gladly send us back to our own earth.”

Doom’s eyes were dark. “I don’t trust this.”

Tony sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Look, I also think it’s fishy that Reed would look at that destination, of all things. But do you have a better idea? We need to get out of here.”

This place – or more precisely this time – was getting on his nerves, what with Doom behaving like a loose cannon. (A voice in his mind whispered, _As if he might break emotionally. Someone like Doom shouldn’t be allowed to break._ ) They couldn’t afford staying here much longer. And if the person out there to get them was behind Reed’s choice of destination, something that Tony was sure Doom and him both suspected, they were damn powerful to begin with and would get them sooner or later anyways.

Tony rather preferred it being sooner, as this ‘collaboration’ with Doom was really getting on his nerves. There were some certainties he’d rather not ever question too much, and working with Doom in such close quarters for much longer could lead to just that.

Doom inclined his head, but he seemed less than pleased. “Alright. Let us enter the portal.”

Tony licked his lips nervously. Neither time nor interdimensional travel had ever really been his thing. “Reed is probably only intending to have a glimpse, right, and not physically enter the realm himself?”

Doom looked impassive as he reached the portal and turned back to Tony. “I think so.”

Tony went to Doom’s side and took a deep breath. The contraption looked similar to portals he’d used with Reed, only smaller and somewhat more flimsy. A round central platform was surrounded by metal casing, with the circle of wiring in which the portal would appear to the right; there was no control panel within the structure, only the generator clearly visible at the side. So far, the portal was glowing a bright yellow and emitting a high-pitched humming sound. It clearly took longer than Reed’s present-day portals to charge up.

If he was being honest with himself, Tony didn’t like any of this. This was a nutcase plan to begin with, and how could he be sure Doom didn’t intend to betray him, leave him here while he went back to their own place and time… It wouldn’t be the first time.

Tony felt a light touch at his hand. He looked down to see Doom’s hand slipping into his, only to let go as if burnt a second later. Tony felt a sense of loss. Doom’s touch had been oddly comforting. Tony swallowed. It must‘ve been just the feeling of someone’s touch in this strangely insubstantial world. Nothing else.

When Doom spoke, his voice didn’t betray any emotion, no acknowledgment of what he’d just done. His eyes were resolutely set on the circle of wiring in which the portal would flare up. “I will tell you when to jump through the portal. Follow right away.”

Tony looked at Doom’s unmoving profile a moment longer, then he let out the air he’d subconsciously been holding the last few seconds. The exhale sounded loud in the silence that had fallen between him and Doom.

But Doom seemed sure of what he was doing. This was going to be alright. Tony balled his hands into fists as the humming grew more high-pitched, the circle glowing in a vivid orange now.

Again, he felt Doom tense next to him a fraction of a second before he heard Doom’s voice, loud and urgent in his ears.

“ _Now!_ ”

Tony jumped into what looked and felt like a maelstrom. He instinctively knew Doom was beside him, but he couldn’t see anything, only colours assaulting his eyes. Tony was constricted by the vivid onslaught. Something pulled him to all sides at once, as if there were invisible force fields in the air. He gulped in a lungful of air, and it was cold and biting and only kept him for a second before he drew in another stuttering breath.

Tony shivered. Time seemed to move strangely here – he had no idea if he’d been in the portal for seconds or minutes or hours.

Something really wasn’t right here. Tony had used Reed’s portals before, and this wasn’t what it was supposed to be like.

Suddenly, all air was squeezed from his lungs as he got thrown against what felt like a wall. He recognised the plating that covered the contraption Reed had built, but it seemed to fall out of focus again as another wave of strange, colourful energies hurled Tony to the side.

Tony tried to scream, but no sound got out. The din all around him was unbearable. He felt all alone and tiny in this strange world. As he looked at his own hands, they seemed to flicker in and out of existence.

This was very, very wrong.

Panic was rising in Tony’s chest until he saw a silhouette appear from the chaos of colours and sounds. He sagged with relief.

Doom.

Tony got a look at him, his eyes wild, when he seemed to phase out of existence again. Where he’d stood was nothing but another whirlwind of colours. But before Tony had time to react, before he’d even opened his mouth to scream, Doom appeared again, now standing beside him. He was yelling.

“Stark, this isn’t working! There isn’t enough energy in that make-shift portal to pull us out of the quantum field we have been stuck in in the past, making our insubstantial forms solid again! Richards was apparently working with a much smaller energy input at the time…”

Tony screwed his eyes wide open against the storm of images. Doom’s face kept on flickering in and out of existence, as did the metallic structure they’d been standing in moments before. His own voice sounded strange to his ears, as if it came from far away. “So we’ll get lost between dimensions if we don’t do something fast.”

Doom nodded, and his face was ashen. Tony bit his lower lip when he saw something behind Doom. It was the generator built into Reed’s portal. Tony had a sudden idea.

“We need an energy boost to get out of this state and properly travel dimensions.”

Doom nodded, but he didn’t seem to catch on until Tony pulled his T-shirt over his shoulders and began striding towards the generator. Doom’s eyes became dark.

“You want to… use this?” Doom indicated the bright circle at the centre of Tony’s chest when Tony turned back towards him at the sound of his voice.

“Yes. If we short-circuit the RT it can generate a surge of electrical energy. Doing that close enough to the generator should bridge the quantum realms.” Tony continued walking towards his destination as fast as possible, which wasn’t very fast – it was somewhat like trying to walk through treacle.

He startled at the touch of a hand on his shoulder. Doom’s eyes bored into Tony’s. There was something hard to describe in them. It looked almost like anger.

“What will short-circuiting the RT do to you?” Doom’s voice had a dangerous note in it.

“Well, it might kill me? But looks like this will kill both of us either way, so nothing lost there, right?” The quip sounded weak even to Tony’s own ears, and Doom evidently wasn’t buying any of it. He clenched his teeth. His grip on Tony’s shoulder was vise-like.

“I won’t allow you to do this.”

Tony relented. He had no idea why Doom was insisting on that strange hero-act. It wasn’t as if he really cared. ( _Or is it_? A treacherous little voice in the back of his mind whispered.)

“Look, if we somehow get out of here, you can repair the RT, okay? With a bit of luck, I’ll be fine. I’ll show you what to do.”

In truth, repairing the RT wasn’t exactly easy and Tony had no idea if Doom would be able to do it. But then again, he was a brilliant scientist, so Tony was in rather capable hands. Also, he didn’t really have to tell Doom about his doubts, did he. Especially as he needed Doom’s help to make this work.

Doom didn’t look convinced at all. His mouth was an unhappy line. Tony almost groaned in frustration as Doom’s face flickered again, for a second drawn into nothingness by the stream of energies they were caught in. “We don’t have time for this, Doom. If we don’t do this, neither of us is going to get out of this!”

Reluctance clearly written all over his face, Doom finally inclined his head and let go of Tony’s shoulder. Tony continued his way towards the portal, Doom only inches behind him as what felt like eager, violent hands were pulling at them from all sides.

Moments or hours later, Tony reached the generator. He knelt down in front of it and unscrewed the lid of the RT. As he moved his hand to the central cable, he felt a gentle touch on his arm, holding him back. Doom had knelt down beside him. He looked – almost afraid. “Show me what I have to do to make the RT work again.”

Tony almost laughed because the whole situation was so absurd. He was about to give inside technical information about the device keeping him alive to a _supervillain_ – albeit a supervillain looking more like a scared puppy right now. But he didn’t have much to lose, did he. “If we somehow get out of this, you have to reconnect the central cable to the magnet core. Then you have to adjust the position of the control valve. You need to remember the exact values that you put in.”

Tony turned to Doom, fully exposing the hole in his chest to show him the set-up. He shuddered a little as he felt Doom’s hand slide over edge of the RT, where the metal casing met his skin, still overly sensitive from the operations he’d had. Doom looked almost awed as he saw the inside of the intricate machine keeping Tony alive.

Tony took a deep breath and averted his eyes from the total fascination on Doom’s face, paired with something like dread. That kind of focus on him was too much. His voice sounded hoarse when he spoke again. “In a moment, I will ask you to rip out the power core of the quantum unit while I disconnect the main cables.”

Doom’s eyes traveled up Tony’s exposed neck, too slowly, until they found Tony’s eyes again. He frowned and seemed about to object, but something on Tony’s face apparently made him shut up. He gestured at Tony to go on.

When Tony was in position right in front of the generator, Doom let his hand hover over Tony’s chest, close to the power core. It was strangely intimate, to expose himself to Doom like that. But Tony couldn’t dwell on that, and after a reassuring look at Doom he started counting down.

“3 – 2 – 1 – NOW!”

Tony ripped out the shielded cable. He clenched his teeth against the feeling of his body going into shutdown mode. But it wasn’t working, there was no surge –

He looked to the side and saw that Doom hadn’t done his part, he hadn’t ripped out the core, and Tony had no idea what was going on, he only knew Doom had to do it _now_ or everything might be in vain −

His voice sounded panicked. “ _Do it!_ ”

Doom hesitated for another fraction of a second, his hand outstretched over Tony’s RT. Then he yanked out the power core and Tony felt red-hot pain surging through him as the energy his body needed to function was thrown outwards, towards the generator –

Tony heard a bang, then he couldn’t breathe. Everything faded to black.

***

Tony came to slowly. Everything was fuzzy and warm and he couldn’t move even one muscle in his body. It was… almost pleasant, except there was an insistent little voice at the back of his head reminding him that he was either dead or too out of it to feel pain.

Because there should be pain, right. Something had happened. Something to do with his RT…

Tony opened his eyes wide with a gasp as recollection came crashing down on him.

_Time travel. Doom. The RT._

There was a face swimming above his, and Tony couldn’t quite make it out, and everything turned. Tony closed his eyes again, screwing them shut against the overwhelming nausea. He heard someone breathe out in relief.

There was a hand gently carding through Tony’s mussed hair, and it felt nice. It grounded Tony as the pain of having the RT forcibly short-circuited finally caught up with him, washing over him in a blazing wave.

Tony tried to keep still, eyes still screwed shut, teeth clenched against the pain. There was another hand cradling his face now, a thumb rubbing slow circles on his cheek.

Slowly, too slowly the pain passed. Tony’s breathing calmed down as his world slowly shifted into focus again, became more than just burning nerve ends and a constricted chest. His fingers uncurled from the fists he had balled them into without noticing.

When he opened his eyes again, he could see Doom hovering over him. Doom apparently held Tony in his arms, and Tony didn’t have time to be mortified at that because Doom’s face lit up. Before Tony was fully aware of what was happening soft lips touched his.

Tony flinched, completely caught off guard, and Doom froze and recoiled a little.

_This shouldn’t be happening_. Leaning over him and looking oddly hurt was _Victor von Doom_ , one of the most infamous supervillains of all time. Who had just tried to _kiss_ him.

Tony’s mind supplied a helpful collection of images of Doom’s past, assaults he had witnessed or even prevented himself, but somehow, it didn’t seem to matter, because there were other, newer memories too, Doom telling him he wanted to turn over a new leaf, Doom helping him with Whitney, with the dweller... Doom was there, and he was warm and solid and his hand was still in Tony’s hair, the other one gently holding his jaw, and he had just saved Tony and said he had changed and –

Before either of them could freak out, Tony pulled Victor back in, acting on an instinct that eluded all rational thought. After a second of hesitation, Victor went willingly, and as his lips touched Tony’s again Tony could feel him smile.

The kiss seemed to go on for a long while.


	6. Things are falling apart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Doom meet their sorcerer selves again. But things have changed.... and not for the better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sweats nervously* Well, this took a while! Let's all just ignore that canon has moved on and there won't be happy Doom/Tony team-up anymore, because I am still having fun with those two xD. Hope you are too and thanks for reading! And thanks for beta to laire, as always, who is great at yelling feels at me and making me remember to write more!

When Tony and Victor finally parted, both were slightly out of breath. Doom’s cheeks were reddened. He still had his hand in Tony’s hair, and somehow, Tony didn’t want him to take it away. Tony closed his eyes for a moment and just let the sensations wash over him. ( _Don’t freak out don’t freak out_ , a little voice in his mind said.)

A deep tiredness settled in Tony’s bones. He didn’t really want to move, ever again. But that wasn’t an option. With a small sigh, he reluctantly opened his eyes to look at Doom. Doom looked a bit dazed and still had a little smile on his face. It was somewhat disconcerting.

Tony cleared his throat. “So, why didn’t you use a spell to make the pain go away when I woke up?”

Doom lifted one eyebrow. “You don’t appreciate me using magic on you without express permission. Ludicrous as you are, you probably prefer carrying the burden of unnecessary pain to accepting a little help.”

Tony smirked. Doom wasn’t wrong, perceptive bastard that he could be. And he was actually making an effort to accept Tony’s boundaries. Better not to dwell on that, Tony decided. There were other things to get to the bottom of.

Carefully moving his head to the left and the right, Tony saw that Doom and he were in a clearing. It was warm and sunny and Tony heard a bee buzzing by his ear. The temperature was a good thing, too, as Tony realised he still didn’t have a shirt on. And Doom cradled him in his arms. Tony swallowed.

“Did we end up where we wanted to?”

Doom’s expression shifted to one of concern. “Where, yes, but when, apparently not. I have done a diagnostic spell after – after your RT was functional again. It seems we haven’t just traveled through space. We have traveled through time as well.”

Tony rubbed his eyes. His vision was still somewhat blurry. “Does that mean we’re in the present again? That makes things somewhat easier, so I can’t claim I’m annoyed.”

Doom nodded curtly. “We are. But this means someone interfered with our journey. Probably the same person that had Richards choose this realm to begin with.”

Tony had half-rolled out of Doom’s lap, bracing his hands on the warm grass. It was wonderful to just _touch_ things again with hands that felt solid and real. “I’m aware of what it means. But excuse me if I prefer looking on the bright side of having my whole body short-circuited and being thrown through time and space against my will. Let me have a break until another magical monster tries to swallow us whole, or whatever. Shouldn’t take long.”

Doom chuckled as Tony drew himself up on a tree. His legs still felt very shaky. Doom got up as well and invoked another spell, air shimmering pink in front of him. “I am unable to contact our other selves or teleport us out of here, as there seem to be protective wards in the air. However, there’s a settlement to our right. We should venture there.”

Tony nodded, took two steps in the direction Doom had indicated and swayed, black dots swimming in front of his eyes. He felt himself fall when there was a strong presence by his side, an arm steadying him. When Tony’s vision had cleared, he saw that Doom’s jaw was clenched. He didn’t say a word.

“Hey, don’t make that face. I’ve been through worse. In fact, you yourself have made me go through worse before.”

Tony realised his mistake the moment the quip was out of his mouth. Doom’s eyes darkened and he let go of Tony’s arm as if burnt, and Tony immediately lost his balance, landing on his butt. Even though the grass was soft, it hurt, everywhere at once, because Tony’s body definitely hadn’t recovered from having the RT forcefully shut down yet.

Doom could clearly tell he had inadvertently hurt Tony, because he immediately lowered himself to his knees and looked at Tony searchingly. Tony waved him off. “I am fine. And – sorry for what I just said. I didn’t mean it.”

Doom sneered. “Doom doesn’t appreciate being lied to.”

Tony bit his lip. Suddenly, he felt that bone-deep tiredness again. He couldn’t do that conversation, not right now. But he had upset Doom and he’d better deal with it. “No, I mean it. It wasn’t fair. I mean, it’s also true. But I know you – changed. Okay?”

Doom shook his head. “If you don’t believe that now, I don’t think you ever will.”

Tony cast his eyes down, unable to face the intensity that was emanating from Doom. “I do believe it. I do. Okay? I’m just tired and this is all a bit too much and I make stupid jokes when I can’t deal with things.”

Tony didn’t dare look at Doom, for a moment. He was being honest, more honest than he’d been with Doom before, because this whole situation had gotten him on edge and he didn’t have it in himself to lie. Not to Doom, not to himself, not right now. Maybe Tony was crazy for believing Doom, and he certainly didn’t have the best track record with trusting questionable people. But be that as it may – right now, Doom seemed to truly care for his welfare, and Tony did appreciate it. He could only hope that Doom saw that.

When Tony’s eyes met Doom’s again, Doom was smiling a bit. “You don’t have to do this, Anthony. Now, all we have to do is get out of here.”

Tony took Doom’s outstretched hand, let himself be pulled up and didn’t let go anymore.

They stumbled through the forest silently, Doom holding Tony up, when there was a ‘pop’ in the air next to them. Anthony materialised. Tony almost sagged with relief. So his wards or whatever had alerted him to their presence. He reached out to Anthony in welcome.

“Sorcerer self, I didn’t think I’d say that, but I am so glad to s-”

Tony interrupted himself when he got a good look at Anthony. He looked… terrible. His shirt was half-undone, his hair open and disheveled, his eyes red-rimmed and huge in the velvety light of the late afternoon. He had clearly been crying.

The words died in Tony’s throat. His hand was still outstretched.

_What had happened here since their last visit?_

Doom reacted faster than Tony. His grip tightened on Tony’s arm, almost to the point of being painful. “What is going on here?”

Anthony took a deep shuddering breath. When he spoke, his voice sounded brittle, nothing like the self-assured tone he’d had when they last met. And his words chilled Tony to the bone.

“He’s dying. Victor is dying.”

For a moment, none of them said a word. Then Doom broke the silence, his voice cold. “How?”

Anthony shielded his eyes with his hand. “I don’t know. Some sort of magic I can’t figure out. He’s just… wasting away, right in front of me.”

Tony’s mind helpfully provided the image of Anthony and Victor kissing, happier than he’d pictured another him ever being. And now there was Anthony, his slender frame taut with barely suppressed turmoil, telling him that this happiness was over, maybe forever.

Doom’s jaw was clenched. “Take us to him.”

“That’s what I’m here for.” Anthony’s voice took on a determined edge. His eyes seem to clear a little as he got a good look at Tony and Doom. His eyes traveled to Tony’s exposed chest and his brow crinkled in confusion.

“What happened to your shirt?”

Tony cleared his throat. “We had some trouble between dimensions. I had to take off my shirt to better get at my RT.”

Even through the desperation still clearly visible on Anthony’s face, Tony could see a little half-smirk appear. “Yes, I am sure you had to do that.”

Tony sighed and looked at Doom, who had a somewhat murderous expression on his face. Somehow, Tony didn’t really want to know if it was directed at Anthony’s clear innuendo or the situation his other self apparently found himself in.

Before either of them could say a word, Anthony waved his hand almost negligently and a strange warm feeling enveloped Tony’s torso. He gasped as a dark blue t-shirt wrapped itself around him. Tony only barely suppressed the curse that was on the tip of his tongue. _Magic_.

When his shirt felt perfectly normal, the magical energy having disappeared, Tony took a deep breath. “Could you please not do that without warning me in advance?”

Anthony nodded curtly, clearly not particularly guilty at what he had done. Then he took a step forwards, interlocking his hands with theirs. And in a flurry of red energy and one smooth pull, they were transported right in front of a house that looked rather similar to the Sanctum Sanctorium of their own dimension. Tony found himself rather relieved at the comfortable journey, this time.

Anthony didn’t say a word as he dispelled some wards with his hands, intricate formulae appearing in the air and vanishing again. The big oak doors opened for them soundlessly and they hurried through a dim entrance hall. They stopped in front of a marble door that looked too grandiose to be of Anthony’s choosing. (Who was he kidding, this was another _Tony_ , probably nothing was too grandiose for him.)

“I tried to contact you but you weren’t in your home dimension. When I cast the net wider, I suddenly got the alert telling me you were lost in the time stream and put a tracker on you.”

Doom nodded. “So that is why Reed activated the portal at the right moment. You made him.”

Anthony nodded distractedly. “I hope I haven’t caused you any inconvenience.”

Neither him nor Doom answered. Tony saw Anthony input clearance for what must be a very advanced technological security system on top of the magical wards – that guy clearly was a Stark after all – and then the doors slid open. Tony heard Doom’s intake of breath.

There was a big bed in the middle of the room, surrounded by all kinds of medical equipment. On it was the form of Victor, facing away from them. But over the body hovered what looked like Victor’s astral projection. The ghostly form looked at them enter, face screwed up in pain.

Doom took a few quick strides towards the scene. Before he got very far, though, Tony saw Anthony make an abrupt move with his arm from the corner of his eye. Doom walked face-first into a glowing blue ward. When he turned towards Anthony, he glowered.

Anthony looked ghostly pale and very tired in the blue glow, but there was a hard trait around his mouth. “Don’t touch him. His astral form is decaying. I only barely managed to hold it in place.”

Tony cleared his throat. “I assume this is the doing of a mage?”

Anthony shrugged helplessly. “I would think so. But I don’t even know that, frankly.”

Doom looked at the translucent form of his other self with big eyes. “Fascinating. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Anthony made a strange noise. “ _Fascinating_. Yes. That’s what he would say too, if he could talk. But like that, I am just forced to see him suffer.”

Victor’s face was indeed twitching, in agonies none of them could imagine. And that he couldn’t communicate. Tony swallowed. “Can you give me all of his readings? I will try and see if I can help. Somehow. And get other people in my dimension to help.”

Anthony nodded, looking relieved. Seemingly out of nowhere, a data stick appeared in the air in front of the sorcerer and started slowly floating towards Tony. “Thank you. We need to find out what caused this, or we don’t stand a chance at curing him.”

“Do you have any suspicions?” Doom was still staring at his other self as Tony caught the stick and pocketed it. Tony wondered what was going on in his mind.

Anthony frowned. “I have detected that there seems to be some kind of multiversal interference. Hence I wanted to talk to you, find out if the problem might originate in your dimension.”

Doom nodded, apparently lost in thought. “That’s what he said too.”

Tony drew his eyebrows together. “What?”

Doom shot him a quick look before looking back at Victor’s prone physical form. “It’s what he told me last time we met. That he detected disturbances. That someone seemed to target him, specifically.”

Anthony turned towards Doom sharply. “ _What?_ That is what you have been talking about? He told me he was gossiping about our relationship with you!”

Doom looked somewhat disdainful and pursed his lips. “Most certainly not. He thought you wouldn’t take it well if you knew he was in danger.”

Anthony heaved a deep sigh, carding his hands through his hair. “So he’s still keeping secrets from me. After all this time.”

Doom opened his mouth and closed it again, apparently thinking better of it. No one said anything for a moment. Then Doom raised his voice again, clearly trying hard to sound gentle. “I am sure he just wanted to protect you.”

Anthony looked furious now. “ _No._ That’s not what this is, and you know that very well. He’s still arrogant, still convinced that he can handle everything himself. And look where it got him. Do _I_ look like I’m the one who needs _protection_?”

Anthony almost spat the last word, and Tony saw golden energy pooling at his fingertips. He raised his hands, getting ready to calm his other self down, but there was a palpable relief of tension in the air as Anthony took a deep breath, dispelling the magic instantaneously.

Tony felt a little pang of jealousy at the amount of control Anthony clearly had over his emotions and immediately felt bad for the reflex.

Anthony’s voice was cool. “I am sorry. This doesn’t concern you. I will bring you back to your own dimension shortly. If you would please leave us alone for a moment.”

Tony licked his lips. “Of course.”

Doom nodded curtly, and Tony was surprised at him not protesting, along the lines of ‘I am well able to use dimensional spells myself, peasant’. They left the room. When Tony turned around he caught a last glance at Anthony, standing right in front of the astral form of his tormented lover with his hand raised. Then the door closed behind them without a sound.

Tony cleared his throat. “So, Victor told you about this. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Doom looked somewhat incredulous. “Victor didn’t even tell his Anthony, and they seem to share a lot more than we do. Why would you expect me to?”

Tony shook his head minutely. “Seriously, you’re terrible. Maybe because whatever keeps happening to us, or maybe rather to you and by extension to me, is clearly connected with what’s happening to your alternate self? Has that thought crossed your obstinate mind?”

Doom bristled, but then apparently made a concentrated effort to calm down. When he spoke, his voice was even. “You are right. I suspect that too.”

Tony stared at Doom for a moment, then decided not to comment on how uncharacteristically meek he was being. “Okay. So let’s get Strange on this once we’re back.”

Doom’s mouth twisted. “I don’t need the help of that charlatan.”

Tony smiled. “That’s more like you, Doomy. But you won’t have much of a choice, because if you remember, I’m the one who has the data.” He took the stick out of his pocked and slowly waved it in front of Doom’s face.

Doom looked murderous again. “This isn’t your choice to make, Stark. This is about me. And my alternate self.”

Tony shook his head. “So far, this is mostly about your alternate self, until we know for sure that what happened to you two is connected. And Anthony trusted me enough to give me his research. So you’ll have to put up with me calling the shots. And I say we get as many minds on this as we can.”

Doom was clearly not pleased at all, but before he could reply, the doors swung open again and Anthony appeared. He looked even more tired than before. “I have renewed the wards and channeled some more energy from the vortex to anchor Victor’s spirit here. Now it is time to get you back to your homes.”

Doom raised a hand. “You have expended enough energy as it is. Let me take care of this.”

Anthony looked at Doom gratefully. “I would appreciate that. I will momentarily dispel my wards, allowing you to get through. And Tony, please take this.”

Tony reached out and felt Anthony place something akin to a smooth warm pebble in his hands. “It’s a chip that allows you to contact me, or my bots, from your dimension. Please be in touch if you find out anything.”

Tony nodded. “Of course. Thank you. I’ll do what I can.”

Anthony smiled and quickly squeezed Tony’s hand. Anthony’s own hands were ice-cold, and Tony couldn’t help but wonder how much he was overexerting himself exactly, at the moment. But before he could try and find out, Anthony had nodded at Doom, there was a blinding light and a pang and the now-familiar sensation of a pull around the navel. Tony was thrown forwards through bright colours, feeling Doom’s solid form beside his, and then impacted hard with the floor of what he hoped was his lab, falling to his knees.

He stood up gingerly and yes, it was his lab, and he saw Friday’s form flicker into life in front of him. Doom was glowering at the A.I. as he got to his feet.

Then he saw something, or rather someone, through the translucent form of the A.I.

Sitting in a chair at the other end of the lab and looking at them with big eyes was Steve Rogers.


	7. Misunderstandings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Steve gets thrown into the mix, there's a lot to explain. And tensions fly high.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiiii everyone who is still reading! Sooorry for the delay, things just got too busy. But this fic definitely isn't abandoned. I hope I'll get down to writing more regularly now. And I mean, this happening in canon definitely means I have to keep on writing: [spoiler for the last page of Infamous Iron Man 8](http://68.media.tumblr.com/b7f7acffa7e8a28e6ceee82c17708ddf/tumblr_oqg663Zq3f1u7tqpoo2_1280.png)
> 
> A little note about the pick-and-choose version of canon this takes place in. It happens around the same time as the first issues of Bendis' _Invincible Iron Man_ -series, before _Civil War II_. Steve is young again, however, he isn't Hydra in this fic. The fight between Steve and Tony that is mentioned in this chapter happens in the last issue of Hickman's _Avengers_ , issue 44.
> 
> Thanks for beta to the amazing [Laireshi](http://archiveofourown.org/users/laireshi/pseuds/laireshi), as always, who always motivates me to write about those fools!

Before Tony had time to process, let alone say anything, he heard a swooshing noise close to his ear. There was a loud bang, and it looked almost comical when Doom slowly fell over backwards, hit right in the head by Steve’s shield. Those super soldier reflexes never stopped being impressive, but Tony was in no mood to admire them right now.

He cursed. “Steve, what the hell!”

He hurried to Doom’s side and heard Friday’s all-clear right when he saw that Doom was clearly just out cold, a bruise already beginning to form on his cheek. Tony let out a low sigh of relief.

Then there was a shadow on him, and when he looked up Steve stared at him, utter confusion etched into his features. He was in a fighting stance, clearly ready to take out Doom should he stir.

“Tony, what’s going on? Are you alright?”

Steve sounded very worried, and finally Tony’s brain fully computed what this must have looked like to him, Tony right next to a known supervillain. He got up and raised his hands in a placating gesture.

“This isn’t what it looks like. Doom and I have actually been… working together. Sort of.”

Steve’s mouth opened in a little silent “oh”, then his face darkened. “What has he done to you? Has he brainwashed you? That conniving –“

“No no no, you’re not listening. I’m okay. I mean, more or less okay.” Tony realised he must look rather terrible, after all that had happened.

Steve’s features softened. “You’re clearly not. Tony, sit down, I’ll get you something to eat.”

Tony chuckled. “And quickly call the Avengers behind my back to take in Doom? I don’t think so.”

Steve scowled. His voice sounded cool now. “I was being sincere. But yes, since you ask, I am certainly not going to let Doom manipulate you, while – I don’t know – from the looks of you, beating you up with gusto?” Steve vaguely indicated Tony’s whole body, and Tony flinched, both at the allegation of Doom hitting him and at Steve’s tone. Steve had clearly suddenly remembered they weren’t on good terms, so he shouldn’t be too considerate with Tony.

His own words came out sharper than he intended. “Doom has never laid a finger on me, Steve. And who I run around with is no one’s business, least of all yours.”

Steve’s jaw clenched. “Okay, if you insist on making things difficult, I will call in Strange right now.”

Before Tony could interfere, Steve had already touched his Avengers card, inputting a complex code. Tony shook his head, more annoyed than threatened by Steve’s gesture, as he had wanted to talk to Stephen anyway. (And he very well remembered Stephen, of all people, telling him to give Doom a chance. Steve probably wasn’t going to be happy with his point of view when he turned up.)

“Okay, whatever, you got your will, happy now? Now, can you tell me why you’re even here?”

Tony let himself fall into a comfortable chair and felt all the fight go out of him. He really hadn’t eaten or rested enough. And now, with Steve in front of him – he felt he wasn’t remotely ready for one of their usual dramas. Even just seeing Steve, looking like an apparition right out of a story book, as usual, made him feel faint. It had been a long time since he had last come face-to-face with Steve, let alone really talked to him. There was something like longing in his gut. Tony did his best to push it down. _Time to get over it, Stark._

Steve looked sad, for the tiniest moment. “I just wanted to talk to you.”

There was a pause, the weight of everything left unsaid in the air between them. Tony averted his eyes. Then Steve exhaled.

“But clearly, I can’t have an actual conversation with you until Strange has put your head right again after whatever Doom did.”

Tony shook his head, wanting to try and explain again, but right at that moment there was a groan. Doom stirred, very slowly making to sit up.

Before he got very far, however, Steve had bent down and thrown another punch, hitting Doom on the side of his head. Doom fell over again and was quiet.

Tony had sprung to his feet before he even realised what he was doing. He only half registered Friday’s stern voice, admonishing Steve. _“That was uncalled for, Captain! I have everything under control…”_

Tony didn’t catch Steve’s reaction, if there was any. He was seething as he went to his knees next to Doom, gingerly taking his pulse. It was there, faint and steady, and relief flooded Tony, but it didn’t make his anger dissipate in the slightest. “Are you _crazy_ , Steve? Hitting people left and right? I told you he was on our side!”

Now Steve almost yelled in agitation. “Doctor Doom? _Doctor Doom_ , who has killed _millions_ and tried to overtake the world more times than I can count?! Tony, are you fucking kidding me? What has that bastard done to you to make you defend him like that?”

“He hasn’t done anything, I keep on trying to explain it to you, okay! Can’t you get it into your thick skull that he’s truly trying to _change_?”

Steve snorted in derision, his chest rising and falling rapidly. “Change? Doctor Doom, on a road to redemption, just like that? Oh please, spare me. Someone like him doesn’t just _change_!”

“Just because you have never done things you truly regretted in your life and tried to improve doesn’t mean we are all like that, Steve! I can understand wanting to turn over a new leaf, even if you were never able to get that! Even if all you have left for that is derision!”

Steve almost physically recoiled, and Tony realised he had crossed a line. Steve’s voice came out strained. “So you see yourself in Doom, is that what you’re telling me?”

Tony cast his eyes down and minutely shook his head. “No, forget it, of course I don’t. Not even I am as fucked up as that.”

Steve smiled faintly, but there wasn’t much humour in it. “I don’t understand you wanting to turn over a new leaf, do I? Like after the war?”

Tony groaned. That was a discussion he _really_ didn’t need, not today, not ever. There was a leaden tiredness in his body, and he just didn’t have the resources to adequately deal with this.

He stubbornly stared at the floor when all of a sudden, there was a faint touch on his jaw. Steve gently tipped his chin up.

“Look at me, Tony. I’m not sure what’s going on here, and I’m definitely not positive Doom hasn’t messed with your head, but… I thought you knew I understood. When you… you know.”

Tony laughed bitterly. “When I deleted my mind, you mean? Yeah, sure.”

Steve let out a frustrated sigh. “Do you really think I don’t understand what it feels like to have made a mistake? One you would do anything to rectify? But you know you can’t, because it’s too late?”

Tony remembered a battle, at the end of the world, in a city crumbling to dust. But still they fought, and Tony wasn’t himself, he was cold and indifferent and out of control, all at the same time, and Steve was trying to kill him, his rage and disappointment having eaten him up from inside. And the Steve that looked at Tony from eyes cold as ice wasn’t the Steve Tony had loved for ever and ever, it was a Steve so consumed by hatred that he didn’t know how to be a hero anymore, how to help people instead of just destroying them. And it was Tony who had brought him so low.

He knew that Steve was thinking of the same thing, he saw it in the sadness in his eyes and the bitter slant of his mouth. Slowly, Tony let out a breath he hadn’t realised he was holding.

Steve’s voice sounded soft when he next spoke. “I missed you, you know.”

Steve still cradled Tony’s face, and there was no real reason for that. Tony swallowed. He looked straight into Steve’s blue, blue eyes, and Steve seemed utterly sincere, and there was something tugging at Tony, a sense of elation. He leaned in a little, and Steve’s eyes seemed about to flutter shut−

And all hell broke loose. One moment, Steve was there, the next, he wasn’t, and there was green energy surging all around Tony, and there was Doom, standing opposite him, his face a mask of pure fury, and Steve was suspended in mid-air, choking in what seemed to be an invisible grip.

“How _dare_ you lay hands on Doom!”

Doom squeezed his fist and Steve’s face contorted, screwed up in pain−

With one jump that Doom clearly wasn’t even noticing in his all-encompassing fury, Tony was at his console. He had to interfere manually, as Friday didn’t have access to the files in question yet, the project still being in development. In a flurry, he put in a code, then he smashed a combination of keys he remembered very well. “Activate protocol Gandalf! _Now_!”

_Let this work please let this work please let it work…_

With a sound like an airplane taking off, a golden sphere appeared around Doom. The magical energy dissipated all at once, Steve crumpling to the ground in a heap, heaving for air. Doom’s eyes were huge and eerie as he snapped his fingers, trying to conjure a spell, but it was in vain. Tony allowed himself one second to feel relieved before hurrying over to Steve.

“Are you alright?”

Steve had a hand at his throat, where burning red marks had sprung up. His breathing was evening out. He nodded, and Tony turned back to Doom, who was shooting daggers at them from his eyes.

“Let me out _right now_ , Stark.”

“So that you can try and kill Steve again? I don’t think so.”

Doom almost spat the next words. “He laid hands on me, the peasant! I came here in _peace_ and he _laid hands on me_!”

Tony cleared his throat. “Actually, it was more like a foot. And I wasn’t a fan, okay, but try to see it his way.”

Doom seemed to look right through Tony, his hands balled into fists, his breathing loud. Then, with what seemed to be a considerable effort, Doom slowly uncoiled his hands, and some of the crazy spark in his eyes disappeared. When he spoke, his voice was calm. “I concede your point.”

Steve made a disbelieving sound behind him, but Tony paid him no heed. “Okay, I will let you out as soon as you’ve really calmed down and promise to _not attack my friends_ , okay?”

Doom snorted, and Tony could see him mouth the word “friends”, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he looked around, and gingerly touched the sphere he was caught in. He frowned, and there was the scientist again instead of the maniac, interested in Tony’s invention. Tony smiled a little to himself. “What is this? What did you do?”

“It’s a zero point energy web. It neutralises everything you could shoot at it, be it technical or magical.”

Doom looked impressed and Tony couldn’t help feeling a little satisfied. “Why did you invent this?”

Tony cocked one eyebrow. “Did you really think I wasn’t going to be prepared for you losing it? Once you started stalking me?”

Doom seemed about to retort when Friday spoke up. “Boss, there’s a disturbance –”

Before she could finish her sentence, the form of Stephen Strange appeared in the lab. With an elegant gesture, he gathered his cloak around him, still billowing in the unseen breeze of the teleportation spell. Then he seemed to take in the scene around him. His eyes gradually grew bigger as they went from Steve, still cradling his abused throat, to Tony, who probably looked like hell, to a very well-dressed but also rather disheveled Doom, caught in a golden sphere in the middle of Tony’s lab. Stephen cleared his throat.

“Does anyone care to fill me in?”


	8. A dangerous plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A plan is made. But the cost might end up being high. And tensions between Tony, Doom, Steve and Stephen are rising.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for beta and discussions to the lovely [laireshi](http://archiveofourown.org/users/laireshi) and [GerdavR](http://archiveofourown.org/users/GerdavR/pseuds/GerdavR)!

“There’s a Tony Stark who is Sorcerer Supreme in another dimension?” Stephen raised his eyebrows and looked very interested.

Tony rubbed at his forehead tiredly. This ‘filling in’ thing was taking more time than he liked, what with either Stephen or Steve interrupting his account on a regular basis. The fact that Doom and Steve kept on glowering at one another certainly didn’t help. At least Steve had stopped trying to incapacitate Doom at every turn once Stephen confirmed that Tony was under no magical influence. But looking at the deep, angry crease between his eyes, Steve wasn’t okay with this development. And Doom hardly seemed appeased either.

“Yeah, I know, I’m embarrassed too. But to be fair, he seems to be decent at what he’s doing.”

“He’s a truly formidable mage.” Doom’s decisive tone made Tony look up in surprise. So Doom was harbouring some admiration for his other self. Something constricted in Tony’s chest. It felt suspiciously like jealousy.

_Uncalled for, Stark._

He looked back to Stephen, who was smiling and looking at Doom with a somewhat knowing expression. Tony sighed. “Whatever. My other self needs our help.”

Tony hurried through the rest of his explanation, his audience – except for Doom, of course – looking more disbelieving as it went on. When Tony got to them being thrown through time, his eyes instinctively found Doom’s, and Doom gave him a warning look. Tony reciprocated with a reassuring little nod. Of course he hadn’t planned on telling Stephen and Steve what had occurred in the past.

“So we ended up in Doom’s youth at university, but we found a way back that involved Doom using energy from my RT, and because Anthony had tracked us we ended up in his realm again and –”

“You were in Victor’s past?” Stephen sounded agitated as he turned to Doom, whose eyes narrowed. But before he had to answer, Steve interrupted. He sounded aghast.

“Energy _from your RT_ , Tony?”

“Yeah, but it’s okay, it worked out.”

Steve didn’t even seem to listen. He pointed at Doom accusingly. “That maniac used energy from your RT?!”

Doom sniffed disdainfully. “I assure you it wasn’t my plan, Captain. Stark certainly doesn’t need encouragement to perform highly self-destructive acts.”

Tony was annoyed at Doom giving Steve even more ammunition against him. Hoping to end this trail of conversation fast, he raised his hands appeasingly. “He’s right, Steve, it was my idea. And also, nothing to worry about now, it all went well.”

Steve shook his head. “Have you even _looked_ at yourself recently? You definitely don’t look well. If he was really trying to _help_ you” – Steve looked as if he had just tasted something particularly disgusting on his tongue – “then why couldn’t he at least help you recover from that ordeal?”

Doom snorted. “Clearly you have never tried to help Stark through any ordeals, or you would be well aware of how impossible it is to help him.”

“How dare you –”

Steve looked about ready to punch Doom again, and Tony was very grateful when Stephen put a placating hand on Steve’s shoulder and shot what seemed to be a cautionary look in Doom’s direction (those two clearly had a rather elaborate kind of non-verbal communication-thing going on. Maybe it was a mage thing). “I am sure Victor would have helped, had it been possible. And while the strain this has evidently taken on Tony is regrettable, what happened is also in the past. And what we apparently have to worry about is the future.”

Tony nodded vigorously. “Thank you. There really are more urgent things to discuss.”

But his hopes of finally getting away from the topic of his wellbeing were quickly dashed when Stephen turned very concerned eyes on him. “I think you should let me have a look at your injuries later, though, Tony.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “I don’t _have_ any injuries, okay? The RT was short-circuited, but it’s alright again. God, and you people wonder why I prefer running around in armour.”

Stephen clearly wasn’t about to stand down. “Then you should rest after this conversation. The strain on your body is clear for all to see.” Behind him, Steve nodded vigorously, while Doom had a thoughtful expression on his face.

Tony carded a hand through his hair. “Yeah, okay, I’m pretty tired, and I will rest, promised, as soon as we have solved whatever is going on here. Which brings me to the rest of our story…”

***************

When Friday projected the readings from the USB stick in the air for all of them to see, Stephen got a far-away look in his eyes. He murmured something under his breath, and made an intricate move with his left hand. A network of coordinates that Tony couldn’t make sense of appeared in thin air. Numbers swirled around his fingers, and Doom’s eyes shone as he walked over to Stephen.

“This is remarkable. So you have analysed the interdimensional disturbances of late.”

Stephen nodded, almost distractedly. “I am sure you have too.”

Doom shook his head. “I have of course noticed them, but I was rather… distracted by other endeavours.”

Tony looked at his feet. Those ‘other endeavours’ probably involved spending way too much time stalking Tony and maybe overhauling his database to convince Tony of the benefits of them working together.

Stephen hummed, then he highlighted a particular strand of data. “It seems that whatever affected that other Victor von Doom is connected to all the disturbances I have mapped in our universe of late. To the barrier between dimensions weakening.”

Tony frowned. “So that thing with the Dweller would also be connected to what is happening? Do you think this all is caused by the problems in the dimension where Anthony is Sorcerer Supreme?”

Doom had closely studied the readings from the USB-stick, his mouth set in a thin line. “I don’t think so. A third party seems to be involved. Whatever causes the problems there seems to be responsible for the problems in our dimension as well.”

“I agree.” Stephen was biting his lip. “But I can’t make sense of those readings… Whoever is behind this must be very powerful.”

Steve, who had been quiet so far since the discussion turned to magic and interdimensional disturbances, addressed Stephen. “Do you think you can help that alternate Doom?”

He was very resolutely not looking at their own Doom as he said that, which almost made Tony smile. Good old Steve, wanting to help but not quite wanting to lose face by admitting that some alternate Doom might actually have reformed and _deserve_ help.

Stephen let out a low sigh. “I… I don’t think so. And if that Anthony Stark has tried everything in his power to help Doom, I don’t see why I should be able to make a difference, he is a Sorcerer Supreme too, after all, and a rather capable one, if Victor is right in his assessment. Which I assume he is.”

“Stephen.” Tony startled at Doom calling Strange by his first name. What kind of history did those two have, really? “Anthony Stark is a formidable mage. But he is expending much of his energy on keeping the astral form of that other Doom connected to his realm. He does not have much magic left at his disposal to do research, to try and pinpoint what is happening. That is where he hopes we can help.”

Stephen rubbed his hands together absent-mindedly. “You are right. What do you suggest we do?”

The corners of Doom’s lips turned upwards in a smile. “I suggest we perform a ritual. The Light of the All-Seeing Eye of Agamotto, combined with my spell powers, should get us the truth.”

Stephen looked confused for a moment, then he shook his head. “What? No, that is too dangerous, and you know it.”

Doom’s voice sounded urgent now. “You can use my magical energies as conduit, Doctor. No need to harm anyone in the process. No souls lost.”

Tony had no idea what Doom was talking about, but he didn’t like the sound of it. Apparently, neither did Stephen. He resolutely shook his head again.

“Victor, performing that ritual would still require you to give up your deepest and darkest secrets to the spell, and to me. And it might cost you some of your magic, forever. You know that as well as I do.”

Doom’s jaw was tightly clenched. “And? I know what this entails, Strange. You know neither of us could do it alone.”

Steve, who had been watching the scene with an intense look of concentration on his face, cleared his throat. “Would you be so kind as to fill in the non-magical people in the room?”

Stephen seemed very upset when he turned to Tony and Doom. “Victor is suggesting we perform a highly dangerous ritual in order to find out where all those disturbances are coming from. Under normal circumstances, it requires the sacrifice of a soul. Victor thinks that being a powerful mage himself, he can simply sacrifice some of his magical energies, instead of his soul. I hadn’t thought of it that way. And it would be an enormous gamble.”

Tony looked from Stephen back to Doom, who seemed determined. “So you might not have your magic anymore afterwards?”

Doom seemed about to retort, then he closed his mouth again. He looked at Tony, and for a moment he seemed sad. “Truthfully, I don’t know.”

Steve muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like ‘all the better for us’. Tony paid him no heed.

“But then you can’t do it. You cannot rob yourself of your magic, hoping to solve a problem that doesn’t even directly concern you!” Tony’s voice sounded more panicked than he had expected.

“It does concern me, Anthony. I… feel that it does. I cannot rest easy until it is solved.”

Stephen spread his hands wide in surrender. “If it is what you want to do, I know better than most that you will go through with it one way or another, Victor. And doing it together, we at least stand a chance of doing it right.”

Doom sneered, but he didn’t answer. Tony looked between the two of them.

“So, what now?”

Stephen carded a hand through his hair. “Now, we go to the Sanctum Sanctorum, where I have the necessary equipment. May Cyttorak have mercy on us.”

“I’m coming with you.” Steve’s voice was steely.

Doom looked at Steve blankly. “Why?”

Steve’s jaw was clenched. “I can already see that Tony will go, and I still don’t trust you. At all. And if you reveal your true intentions, I will be there to fight you with Tony and Stephen.”

Doom smirked. “I am sure your shield will be a great help when I decide to give in to the inner darkness and conjure demons, Captain.”

Steve’s lips curled in disdain. “You didn’t think so little of my shield when it knocked you out just now.”

Doom bared his teeth and looked about ready to spell-choke Steve again. But then there was a palpable relief of tension in the air, and everyone looked at Stephen, who was shooting angry looks at Doom and Steve, his fingertips still glowing with the spell he must have used just now (a calming spell?). Both Doom and Steve looked less than pleased with the intervention and seemed about to say something, but Stephen didn’t let them get a word in. “Enough. If we want to have even the slightest chance of succeeding, we have to work together in this. You are very welcome to join, Captain, as are you, of course, Tony. We will need neutral bystanders to monitor the proceedings and interrupt the spell casting, should it become necessary. So gather whatever you need to bring with you. I will ready a teleportation spell momentarily.” He turned to Tony. “And after we are done here, I will make sure you let me examine you and get a proper rest. Don’t even think I have forgotten.”

***********************

Tony got a change of clothes from the cupboard in his lab, where he always kept clean stuff in case his clothes got ruined at work. Slowly, he pulled off the shirt Anthony had created for him (it was sticky with sweat). Now that the plan was in motion, he realised again how very _very_ tired he was. Every move seemed to require more energy than he had left.

Tony swayed, and for a moment there were black dots swimming in his vision. But then they were gone, and Tony steadied himself with a hand on his desk. No one seemed to have noticed. _Good._

He had his back turned to the lab, where Doom and Stephen were quietly talking about magical things he didn’t understand. Much as he hated to admit it, maybe he should really try and get a grip on magic, on the theoretical level, if that was going to be his life from now on – way too many magical villains and interdimensional disturbances and what not. ( _Maybe Doom could help him get a grip on it_ , a little voice whispered. Tony shoved it to the very back of his mind.)

Suddenly, Steve’s voice was loud in his ear, Steve having apparently come over to him without Tony noticing. Tony startled. “Tony…”

When Tony turned, Steve looked him up and down, and Tony became acutely aware of not wearing a shirt yet. He cleared his throat and quickly pulled it over his head.

“You’re too thin.”

Tony laughed. “Leave the complaint with Friday. She tries to make sure I have adequate caloric intake. She’s not that successful at it, mind you, but not everyone can compare to Captain America bringing you snacks down to your lab.”

Tony was surprised at the acute sense of longing in his gut once the words were out of his mouth, longing for those days, when Steve lived with him at the Mansion – or the Tower – and tried to take care of him. Steve cast his eyes down, and Tony felt the absurd urge to hug him. But before he could act, Steve had seemingly decided to let the topic drop. “I wanted to ask… if you minded me coming with you.”

Tony answered right away. “Why would I mind?” (The truth was, and this was another little voice Tony was very determined to ignore, that he had felt a wave of relief wash over him when Steve announced he would join them. Being with Steve felt safe, it felt… it felt like home, even if it hadn’t exactly been that of late. But still, in a situation where Tony felt more than in over his head, it was a huge comfort to know that Steve was standing by him, ready to throw that shield at whoever or whatever might threaten them.)

“Well, maybe I am… intruding.”

Tony stared. “Into what?”

Steve’s mouth twitched, in sadness or annoyance, Tony wasn’t sure. “Into whatever is going on between you and Doom.”

Tony shook his head. “Steve, you aren’t intruding into anything. I… I’m glad if you’re with us.”

Steve smiled, and it looked like the first truly genuine smile he had given Tony that day, no trace of sadness or bitterness in it. It was the sort of smile Tony could get lost in, and he almost did, until he saw Doom purposefully walking towards them. He pinched the bridge of his nose. This was all getting more complicated than he was ready to deal with.

“Can I have a word with you? In _private_?” The last part came out pointed as Doom shot Steve a withering look.

Steve looked about ready to stab Doom, and Tony sighed. “I’ll be one second, Steve, okay?”

Steve clearly wanted to object, but he snapped his mouth shut, nodded shortly and walked over to Stephen. Tony watched the muscles in his back move, under his tight suit, and his mouth went dry. When he turned back to Doom, he looked at Tony searchingly.

“I could make you feel rested. If you want.”

Tony swallowed. So Doom had apparently seen his little moment of weakness before. He wasn’t sure what Doom meant exactly by being able to make Tony feel rested, if this was a very weird come-on or something else entirely, but Doom’s eyes were shining intently and somehow, Tony couldn’t draw his own gaze from them. He nervously rubbed his hands.

“What do you mean?”

“I could use a spell on you that would regenerate your body and mind. It wouldn’t be like sleeping, not precisely. But it would restore some of your energy.”

Tony exhaled slowly. He wasn’t sure whether he should be touched or weirded out at the offer. It was somehow… considerate of Doom, to notice how much of a toll all of this had taken on Tony. He thought of how panicked Doom had been when they short-circuited the RT. And of Steve’s intuition, of something going on between the two of them. Maybe he wasn’t so wrong after all.

And yet, Doom’s offer was also cause for concern, because it was _magic_ , and because it clearly wasn’t an actual substitute for sleep. It probably wouldn’t be much different from the nearly endless supply of coffee Tony dosed himself with when he didn’t want to sleep, be it because of a deadline or because of nightmares. Steve had always hated that habit of his, keeping himself going artificially instead of actually resting. But Doom – Doom was probably doing the same thing to himself.

When Tony still didn’t answer, Doom clacked his tongue impatiently. “You should take me up on my offer. And you should do it now, while I am still able to adequately perform magic.”

Tony swallowed as he felt fear surge through him. Fear for Doom. (What was _happening_ to him?)

But maybe Doom was right, and if he was supposed to help his counterpart and ‘Victor’, he had better make sure he was capable of taking care of others, protect them. Which he hardly could, if he wasn’t even able to take care of himself.

“Okay. Can you do it now?”

Doom nodded curtly, but there was clear relief in his features. “Let us go outside. This is none of Strange’s and Rogersʼ” – he almost spat out Steve’s last name − “business.”

Tony inclined his head. “Cook up some excuse and follow me out as soon as you can.”

He walked over to Stephen and Steve, who were deep in conversation. “I have to get my repulsor watch. I will be right back.”

Stephen nodded, while Steve raised his eyebrows, but also didn’t comment. Tony slipped out of the lab. As soon as he was out of people’s sights, he leant against the wall, feeling it steady him. He really felt exceptionally light-headed.

Doom appeared a mere minute later, looking regal and serious. Without any more words or explanations, he touched a hand to Tony’s forehead. Tony shivered, if from fear of magic or something else entirely, he couldn’t tell. Then he felt the magic course through him, and it was terrible, and amazing, all at once. It was like 36 shots of espresso in a row, like finally working out a difficult coding problem, like flying –

He staggered when the flow of magic stopped. Tony took a deep breath in, and the world came into focus again, sharper than it had been the preceding hours. He felt thoroughly refreshed. A grin spread over his face.

Then he saw Doom, who looked at Tony inquisitively, a little paler than he’d been before. Tony’s grin grew even wider. “Wow. That was… Thank you. Really, thank you so much.”

Doom cast his eyes down, smiling, and he really had the prettiest lashes…

Tony clenched his hands to the point of pain to make himself snap out of this. Really, what was going on with him? He really did feel somewhat hyper after that spell, but he should try and keep it under control.

“I didn’t think you’d trust me with this, Tony.”

At the sound of his first name, Tony felt light-headed again, but in a nice way. Before he knew what he was doing, he had put a hand on Doom’s cheek and placed a very light kiss on his lips.

Doom seemed even more shocked by what he had done than Tony himself, and Tony quickly recoiled. He rubbed the hand he had just touched Doom with across his forehead. “Sorry. But I really appreciate that you’re using magic on me, now, when you might need all of it in a moment.”

Doom visibly sobered up, and Tony regretted his words the moment they were out of his mouth. “You are right. We should get back to the others and put this plan into motion.”

Doom turned and had disappeared inside the lab before Tony even had the chance to say anything else to him. He felt oddly bereft, and rejected, by Doom not even acknowledging that he had kissed him.

Maybe Tony had been wrong after all, and Doom did not have any feelings for him.

Maybe that would in fact be easier.

With a sigh, Tony touched the place on his forehand where Doom had put his fingers, just moments before. It still felt oddly warm, but that was probably just an illusion. Like so much else that had happened of late.

Tony shook his head, as if trying to chase off a troublesome fly, and turned towards the door of the lab. He felt better, and that was what Doom had wanted, wasn’t it. He felt ready to take on whatever or whoever was messing with his alternate self and ‘Victor’.

But he still didn’t feel ready to watch Doom sacrifice his own magic for the cause.


	9. Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony, Doom, Strange and Steve attempt to figure out who is behind all their recent problems. Sacrifices have to be made and confessions ensue. They don't necessarily go well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, we are slowly moving in the direction of the climax of all of this now, where some stuff is finally revealed! Thanks to everyone who is still reading, commenting etc., you're keeping me going :)!
> 
> As always, Laire and Gerda talked to me about this, beta'ed and were terrible enablers, so THANK YOU.

The Sanctum was dark and empty when they arrived. Stephen disabled the magical defenses, and it was startlingly similar to what Anthony had done, only Stephen clearly employed no technical ones. The big doors swung open and Stephen quickly strode through, Tony and the others following behind without a word.

With a flick of Stephen’s hand, the fireplace in the corner of the entrance hall came to life. He opened a side door, and at the centre of the room they entered was a pedestal on which the Eye of Agamotto rested. Tony instinctively looked over at Doom, whose eyes were gleaming in the dim light. He looked eager, and Tony quickly cast his eyes down, reminded of the fact that Doom had probably wanted to be Sorcerer Supreme for ages.

Stephen looked weary as he picked up the Eye, turned it around in his hand and put it back. “Alright. Victor and I will attempt the incantation. Do you know what to do, Victor?”

Instead of answering, Doom started conjuring something intricate in the air, maybe to warm up or to prepare the spell. Stephen turned to Tony and Steve, and his eyes were grave. “We will be lost to this plane while we weave the spell, so we won’t be responsive to you talking to us. That is nothing you have to worry about, neither are the lights and sounds that might accompany the spell. However, if one of us starts visibly being in pain, you need to intervene.”

Tony swallowed, and Steve spoke before him. He sounded calm and sure of himself, and something in his voice made Tony relax, a little. “What do we do?”

Stephen walked to cupboard which he unsealed with another little gesture. He took out two vials that were filled with a poisonous looking substance, gleaming green in the flickering light cast by the fire. He held one out to Tony, the other one to Steve, who took it reluctantly.

“This is a serum of transvocation that you can release by breaking the vial. It will forcefully disrupt the spell. But be advised: only use it when things seem dire. Interrupting a complex incantation like the Light of the All-Seeing Eye of Agamotto may cause… other problems.”

Tony closed his eyes momentarily, shaking his head. “Other problems? Could you be more specific? I want to know exactly _how_ bad this idea of yours is.”

Stephen smiled, but there wasn’t much humour in it. “When interrupted while channeling his magic, a sorcerer can get stuck on the Astral Plane with no way of returning.”

Steve snorted. “Not much of a loss in Doom’s case.”

Tony and Stephen both opened their mouths, but Doom just chuckled. “Oh, from the Astral Plane, I could most comfortably put my evil schemes into practice, Captain. After all, I’d be beyond the reach of your pathetic Avengers.”

Steve had a deep crease of worry between his eyebrows when he addressed Stephen. “Is he serious?”

Stephen just sighed. “No, Steve, he is not. That statement didn’t even make sense, magically speaking.”

Doom looked kind of smug at Steve’s scandalized expression, and Tony barely suppressed a giggle. Really, it wasn’t _that_ funny – must be Doom’s espresso-spell still messing with his head. He definitely still felt light-headed, as if on the brink of hysteria.

Stephen sounded weary when he went on. “So, may we continue? Tony, you will watch Victor and intervene if he seems to be in a lot of pain. Steve, your responsibility will be monitoring me.”

Steve scowled. “Why not the other way around?”

Doom pursed his lips, but Stephen answered. “Frankly, Steve, I am not sure that would be wise. Your attitude towards Victor seems to be… rather negative.”

Steve laughed disbelievingly. “Rather negative? Oh please. This is _Doctor Doom_ we are talking about. I really don’t understand why Tony of all people walks around defending him now, but please don’t tell me you’ve lost all common sense too, Doctor.”

Stephen looked at Steve mildly. “Victor and I have a long history together. Forgive me if I sound biased, but he is not as simple a man as you make him out to be.”

Steve didn’t look convinced, but clearly didn’t want to fight either. He looked at Tony appraisingly for a moment and Tony shrugged. Steve sighed. “Alright. Let’s move forward with that plan.”

Stephen inclined his head. “Victor?”

Doom already had his hands raised, and in perfect unison him and Stephen closed their eyes and started their spell. The Eye of Agamotto glowed red on its pedestal and Tony could practically feel the magic running through the ground, into him, through Steve. Steve had instinctively taken a step back and gave Tony a quick look, eyes wide with worry, when both Doom and Stephen suddenly opened their eyes. They were white and utterly blank, no trace of the men Tony knew in them. Their faces were expressionless. They opened their arms wide and touched their fingertips together, and there was a blinding light that seemed to join their bodies into one.

Tony shielded his eyes, and there were sounds now too, a low buzzing that went right to the base of Tony’s skull. He tried to look at the two sorcerers again, squinting against the blinding light, but when he saw their faces, it chilled him to the bone. Gone was the serenity from moments before – instead, they were screwed up in silent grimaces that could be from fear or pain or something Tony couldn’t even begin to understand.

He shuddered. Then Tony felt a hand in his, and Steve looked at him reassuringly. “They will be alright,” Tony more lipread than heard, because the buzzing sound had grown even louder. He swallowed and nodded and clutched the vial in his free hand.

_They had better be._

But then Tony saw fear in Steve’s face too, and when he looked back at the two mages, Doom was surrounded by an eerie green glow. Something seemed to seep out of him, and as it did, Doom grew paler, until he was ghostly white. He screwed up his face even more, and then Tony could make out a scream, even over the buzzing of the magic.

For a moment, Tony was petrified and couldn’t look away from Doom’s pained expression. He felt Steve’s hand on his shoulder, and Steve looked panicked and indicated Strange. The – whatever it was – seemed to have spread to Stephen, whose eyes were shut tight, every line of his body taut. The Eye of Agamotto was flickering now, pulsing bright red light, like strobes. And Doom was clearly already convulsing in pain.

Exchanging one glance, but without further words, Tony and Steve hastened to the side of the mages. When Tony smashed the vial against the pedestal with the Eye, a putrid stench assaulted his nose immediately. There was some sort of fog, and nothing seemed to happen, and Tony felt his chest constrict.

_Why was nothing happening._

But then the substance seemed to have reached Doom’s nose, and suddenly, he collapsed to the ground, like a puppet whose strings had been cut. In shock, Tony didn’t manage to catch him, but he immediately knelt down and put Doom’s head in his lap. He was drenched in cold sweat, eyes still screwed shut. Tony felt his wrist, and there was a pulse. Doom was alive. Tony slowly let out the air he’d been holding in his lungs.

The buzzing gradually died down, until the room was almost eerily quiet. Steve was kneeling on the other side of the pedestal, and he had Stephen’s head in his lap. At Tony’s worried look, he spoke, and the words sounded unnaturally loud in the sudden stillness all around them.

“He seems to be alright, but out cold. What about…?”

“Same.” But as Tony spoke, Doom began to stir. His body got tense and he was clearly in pain again. His eyes snapped open. He looked at Tony, unseeing, with clenched teeth. Tony felt his own heartbeat pick up as Doom seemed to fight whatever the aftereffects of the ritual were. He took Doom’s hand in his, trying to offer some comfort. Doom gripped it, vice-like, and struggled, until there was a palpable relief of tension running through his body.

Doom let go of Tony’s hand and seemed to come back to himself. He looked up at Tony for a moment without saying anything, still reclined in Tony’s lap. It was hard to tell what he was thinking, and Tony gave him a reassuring smile. Then Doom slowly braced himself and turned on his side. Sitting up was clearly a big effort, and once he had managed it, he closed his eyes for another moment.

Tony looked at Steve, who did seem relieved that Doom was alright, probably despite himself. He was still cradling an unconscious Stephen. “Did the ritual work?”

Doom cleared his throat and his voice sounded rather brittle when he spoke. “It is not I who will have the results of our undertaking. The Doctor is the keeper of the Eye. He will be the one to tell us if our plan worked once he wakes up.”

Steve nodded, but Doom paid him no further heed. He held out a hand, a look of intense concentration on his face. There was a little spark between his fingers, but nothing more. Doom screwed up his face and apparently willed his magic to work, but there was only empty air above the palm of his hand. Tony felt his mouth go dry. With a sound of utter frustration, Doom drew his hand to his body, cradling it, taking deep breaths. Then he got up on shaky legs.

“I need to be out of this room. The residue of magic makes me feel sick.”

Tony got up as Doom took some quick but uncertain strides towards the door. He exchanged a look with Steve, who was frowning. Then he inclined his head.

“Go after him and make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.”

*******************************

Tony let the heavy door fall shut behind them while Doom took a few steps across the entrance hall of the Sanctum. He slid down the wall until he sat on the floor and buried his head in his hands. After a moment of hesitation, Tony sat down next to him, but didn’t speak. Finally, Doom leant his head back against the wall, his eyes wide open, something indescribable in them.

“I have lost all but some scraps of my magic.”

Tony cast his eyes down. “But you will be able to recover it. I am sure of it.”

Doom laughed bitterly. “We will see. Maybe it cannot be recovered.”

Tony knew he must’ve looked pained when he next spoke. “Then why did you do it?”

Doom’s eyes went blank again for a moment. He seemed to be lost to an inner world Tony had no part it. When he spoke, his voice was low, and Tony bent closer to him in order to understand what he was saying.

“There is not one simple explanation. There are several.”

Tony smiled. “Then humour me with all of them, please.”

Doom sighed, and he looked very tired. “I am not sure why you wish that I bore you with it, but so be it. I thought I could control it. Foolishly, as you would say. I was sure that sooner or later, the problems affecting that other dimension would end up haunting me either way, and I am not one for waiting around. I thought that such a sacrifice – I thought it might make people trust me. That it might make you really trust me. And that other Victor – he deserves to be saved.”

Now Doom’s jaw was clenched, and Tony could see the toll that explaining had taken on him. His eyes veered off into the distance, and when he looked back at Tony, he seemed to search his face. To gauge Tony’s reaction to what he had revealed. (And the last two statements seemed to play in Tony’s mind over and over, about how desperately Doom sought his trust and how he was by consequence partly to blame for Doom’s sorry state, and about that other Victor. A Victor that had managed to redeem himself, that was happy and fighting the good fight. And fighting it alongside another version of Tony. There had been longing in Doom’s voice when he spoke of him.)

Tony put a hand on Doom’s shoulder, and retracted it at Doom’s surprised flinch. He sighed. Doom really wasn’t good with physical contact. Hardly surprising, Tony supposed, given that he had spent a lot of his life encased in a metal armour. But still something they would have to work on.

(What was he even _thinking_.)

Doom looked worried after Tony’s rather long silence, so Tony hurried to smile at him. “Victor does deserve to be saved, and we will save him. Still, I wish it didn’t have to be this way.”

Doom looked relieved. “So do I. But at least we didn’t bring a demon of darkness back from between the dimensions.”

Tony’s jaw dropped. “That could have _happened_?! God, I really hate magic.”

Doom smiled. It was a sad little thing. “I know. It is good for you then that I am not in possession of mine anymore.”

Tony almost groaned. _Well done, Stark, always so sensitive_. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

Doom wasn’t looking at him anymore, but at the door behind which Stephen should be waking up about now, hopefully. “I know you did not mean it, but it doesn’t mean some part of you doesn’t wish I wasn’t what I am.”

Tony frantically shook his head. “No, that is not true. I… I like you just the way you are, okay?” (There was a panicky voice at the back of his head, screaming something about dating supervillains. It sounded suspiciously like Steve. Tony resolutely ignored it.)

Doom looked taken aback now, and he opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He closed it again. Then he braced himself on the wall and got up on legs that were still shaky. Tony hurried to put Doom’s arm around his own shoulder to steady him. Still he wasn’t talking. When he finally did say something, his voice had a hard edge to it.

“Let us go back inside.”

Tony looked at Doom’s chiseled profile, a sinking feeling in his stomach. “So I won’t get any reaction from you, then?”

Doom sounded exasperated now. “I do not know what messed you up to the point of needing constant reassurance of my feelings, but –”

Tony let out a short bark of laughter. “Look who’s talking.”

Doom glowered, but continued as if Tony had not spoken. “But I would have thought that I have made my own quite clear.”

Tony wanted to interrupt and tell Doom that yes, he had thought Doom might like him as more than a – as more than a frenemy, until he had started suddenly brushing him off, not reacting to that kiss at Tony’s lab, and now not even deigning to answer a confession that had really not been easy for Tony. But Doom was having none of it. He had stopped walking and turned towards Tony, an accusatory look on his face.

“However, I do not appreciate being toyed with.”

Tony was speechless. What was Doom _talking_ about?

Doom was shooting daggers from his eyes now. “The way you look at him… It’s _pathetic_.”

When Tony found his voice, it came out more uncertain than he’d have liked, because he was starting to get seriously pissed at Doom’s behavior. How dare he talk to Tony like that? Instead, Tony’s voice was shaking a little, and Tony immediately felt embarrassed. “Care to enlighten me?”

Doom pointed a finger at the room where they had performed the ritual. His eyes were wild now, and it was plain to see how the ritual and his loss of magic had affected him, rendering him more unstable than before. “Rogers. The moment he turns up, you only have eyes for him. But why did I expect anything else. It has always been like that.”

Tony could feel his own mouth gaping open. He shut it with an audible click. Something was bubbling up on his tongue, and he wasn’t sure if it was laughter or angry yelling or something else altogether.

_Steve. Steve of all people._

His mouth was dry when he spoke, his voice quivering with barely restrained anger now. “You do realise there could never be anything between me and Steve. I am sure you have heard some things about our history. Those little wars we fought. How I got him killed.”

Doom snorted disdainfully. “I have heard about them, and they almost were your undoing. They are still amongst your worst memories. Yes, as you might recall, I have seen them. I know you better than you would like to admit.”

Tony could feel his anger boiling in his stomach now, white hot, threatening to overtake him. “You know me better than I would like to admit? Oh, and why is that, I wonder? Right: because you performed a highly invasive magical ritual on me _without my consent_!”

Doom dismissed what Tony had said with a forceful gesture. “Spare me your accusations, we have been through them. My point stands. The moment Rogers turns up, you have eyes but for him, because I am sure what you have is _so special_.”

Doom almost spat the last words, and now Tony was almost yelling, because this was too much. It was too much even taking into account that Doom must be severely affected by what had happened with the Eye.

“So _what_? Even if you were right. Even if me and Steve had quote ‘something special’ going on, what the _hell_ do you even want? Do you only consider being in a relationship with someone who has never loved before?” Doom’s eyes grew wide, and Tony realized what he’d said a moment too late. ‘A relationship’. _Shitshitshit_. Better to just go on talking, ride the wave of anger that was still propelling him forwards. “What about you and Reed and Sue? Whose rejection, I might add, is also amongst _your_ worst memories. How does _that_ figure into your incredibly pure idea of love?”

Doom reeled back as if slapped and braced himself on the wall. At the look of betrayal on his face, Tony felt a leaden weight settle in his stomach. He had gone too far.

Desperately seeking for words, he tried to touch Doom again, to steady him, to ground him, maybe. But Doom’s face closed off. Without another word, he turned and gripped the door handle and was gone, disappearing into the dim light that still illuminated the room where Stephen and Steve were.

For a moment, Tony felt like putting his own fist into the wall. _Great job. Well done, Stark. Always messing everything up. Even between you and a supervillain on the path of redemption, you manage to be the crueler one._

Instead, he simply clenched his fists so hard that he could feel his own nails bore into the flesh of his palms. He took a series of deep breaths.

_Calm down. Your friends need your help._

He felt the tension run all down his spine when he followed Victor through that door, the stench of the magic ritual still hanging in the air.

*************************

Stephen had woken up, and he was standing next to the pedestal with the Eye, now quiet and dark again. His hand was braced on Steve’s strong shoulder. He looked drained, but alert, and when he turned to Doom and Tony, his voice was steady.

“They know that we are coming. We need to act now.”


End file.
